CZECH REPUBLIC: Scientists uncover gene responsible for kidney disease

. PRAGUE, Czech Republic / The Pragie Monitor / ČTK / August 19, 2009 The disease is caused by the change of the gene responsible for the production of renin which also plays an important role in the regulation of high blood pressure, Stanislav Kmoch, head of a team of researchers from the Institute of Inherited Metabolic Defects of Prague's Charles University First Medical Faculty, told CTK. The defect of the gene provokes a kidney disease that could result in its failure, faculty dean, professor Tomas Zima, said. The importance of the discovery mainly lies in the fact that it allows for the pharmacological treatment of the families which have a history of the disease. It also opens a path to understanding of the influence of substances on the appearance of the high blood pressure condition. "We have found the cause of the disease in patients but we have also opened the fundamental biological question of the function of renin in the regulation of high blood pressure and in the biology of kidneys," Kmoch said. The study shows the side effects of the medicines which regulate blood pressure through influencing the function of renin. Millions of such medicines are being sold around the world at present, he said. According to professor Vladimir Tesar, head of Prague's Clinic of Nephrology, the discovery could soon have an importance for ordinary patients with chronic kidney defects the number of whom is about 8000 in the Czech Republic. So far, the only treatments for these patients whose kidneys have stopped functioning have been dialysis and kidney transplant. The treatments are expensive. Their costs make up 4 percent of the total health care expenses, Tesar said. Two million adult patients in the Czech Republic suffer from high blood pressure and one-third of them do not know it as no pain accompanies the condition. High blood pressure carries the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and kidney failure. The research will now focus on the search for appropriate treatment. It mainly brings the hope to young patients whose kidneys are not damaged very much. [rc] Copyright 2008 by the Czech News Agency (ČTK).