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New treatment for inherited kidney disease

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kidney-failure

London: A new treatment which involves targeting tiny blood vessels inside the kidneys may slow down the progression of an inherited kidney disease that is affecting around 12.5 million individuals worldwide, research has found.

Polycystic kidney disease (PKD), the world’s most common inherited kidney disease, is a genetic disorder where fluid filled cysts grow in kidneys and destroy normal renal tissue.

“With further testing, treatments that target blood vessels surrounding the kidney cysts, perhaps in combination with currently used drugs, may prove to be beneficial for patients with polycystic kidney disease,” said lead researcher David Long from University College London.

“If we could target these blood vessels early in the development of the condition it could potentially lead to much better outcomes for patients,” co-author of the study Adrian Woolf, professor of paediatric science at the University of Manchester in Britain, said.

Treatment for the condition has traditionally targeted proteins which are thought to play a role in causing the condition and are located in hair-like structures and tissue that line the inside of cysts.

These treatments can help alleviate some of the symptoms of PKD but they cannot currently cure the condition.

By looking at mouse models of both the common and rarer form of the disease, the team noticed that tiny blood vessels surrounding the cysts were altered very early in cyst development.

They therefore treated the mice with a protein called VEGFC, and found that patterns of blood vessels normalised and the function of the kidneys improved.

In the mice with the rare form of the condition, it also led to a modest but significant increase in lifespan.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Corona

Covid toll in Karnataka is a worrying sign for state government

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Even though Karnataka recorded the lowest number of Covid deaths in April since the virus struck first in 2020, the state is recording a rise in the positivity rate (1.50 per cent). Five people died from the Covid infections in April as per the statistics released by the state health department. In March, the positivity rate stood around 0.53 per cent. In the first week of April it came down to 0.38 per cent, second week registered 0.56 per cent, third week it rose to 0.79 per cent and by end of April the Covid positivity rate touched 1.19 per cent.

on an average 500 persons used to succumb everyday in the peak of Covid infection, as per the data. Health experts said that the mutated Coronavirus is losing its fierce characteristics as vaccination, better treatment facilities and awareness among the people have contributed to the lesser number of Covid deaths.

During the 4th and 6th of April two deaths were reported in Bengaluru, one in Gadag district on April 8, two deaths were reported from Belagavi and Vijayapura on April 30. The first Covid case was reported in the state in March 2020 and three Covid deaths were recorded in the month. In the following month 21 people became victims to the deadly virus, and May 2020 recorded 22 deaths. The death toll recorded everyday after May crossed three digits. However, the third wave, which started in January 2

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