2017/04/13
Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Tohoku University
Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University
Highlights
・Changes in the gut environment, including the gut microbiota, have been reported in the pathophysiology of kidney disease.
・While the gut microbiota is involved in producing uremic toxins, kidney disease worsened in germ-free mice with chronic kidney disease.
・Controlling the balance of the gut microbiota is important for preventing the progression of chronic kidney disease.
Tohoku University Graduate School of Medical Sciences (Sendai, Miyagi) and the Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University (Tsuruoka, Yamagata) have clarified the role of the gut microbiota in the pathophysiology of chronic kidney disease. This is the result of a research group led by Professor Takaaki Abe of the Division of Nephrology, Endocrinology, and Vascular Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medical Sciences and Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering; Assistant Professor Eikan Mishima of the School of Medicine; and Specially Appointed Associate Professor Shinji Fukuda (a JST PRESTO researcher) of the Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University.
In recent years, changes in the gut environment, including the gut microbiota, have been reported in the pathophysiology of kidney disease, and the existence of a "gut-kidney axis," in which the gut and kidneys mutually influence each other, is becoming clear. However, many aspects of how the gut microbiota is involved in kidney disease remain unknown. In this study, the research group elucidated part of the role of the gut microbiota in the pathophysiology of chronic kidney disease by using germ-free chronic kidney disease model mice, which have no gut bacteria as they are raised in a sterile environment, and metabolome analysis technology.
This study revealed that while the gut microbiota has a negative impact on kidney disease through the production of uremic toxins, it also plays beneficial roles such as producing short-chain fatty acids and metabolizing amino acids. As a result, it was found that in the absence of gut bacteria, kidney disease is more likely to worsen. This suggests that the gut microbiota has a dual role—both beneficial and detrimental—in kidney disease, and that controlling the balance of the gut microbiota is important for preventing the progression of chronic kidney disease.
This research clarifies part of the role played by the gut microbiota in the pathophysiology of chronic kidney disease, and it is expected to lead to future clinical applications, such as the development of new treatments for kidney disease targeting the gut environment. The results of this research were published in the online edition of Kidney International, the official journal of the International Society of Nephrology, on April 10, 2017.
For the full press release, please see below.