2018/01/09
Keio University School of Medicine
A research group from the Keio University School of Medicine, including Senior Lecturer Junichi Hirahashi and Collaborative Researcher Mitsunobu Okubo, has uncovered a new mechanism for the onset of acute kidney injury (hereinafter, AKI) caused by rhabdomyolysis as part of their research at the Center for General Medicine Education. Furthermore, they have discovered a new biological substance that prevents its onset.
Rhabdomyolysis is a condition in which muscle-derived components are released into the bloodstream due to the destruction and necrosis of skeletal muscle, sometimes causing acute kidney injury that can be fatal. As a traumatic cause, Crush syndrome in Japan during events such as the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake has drawn attention. Non-traumatic causes include excessive exercise, severe heatstroke, arterial occlusion, and drug-induced factors. During the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, it is estimated that more than 370 people developed the condition and approximately 50 died, and it is known as a clinically frequent disease.
Currently, there is no specific drug to prevent AKI, and treatment is limited to measures such as correcting dehydration with prompt fluid resuscitation. In cases of acute renal failure, life-saving hemodialysis is performed as a symptomatic treatment. However, at disaster sites, many victims die because they cannot receive hemodialysis in time, and the development of preventive methods for AKI has been considered a major potential contribution to disaster medicine.
In this study, the research group elucidated a new fundamental mechanism for the onset of AKI secondary to rhabdomyolysis. They also discovered that the multifunctional biological substance lactoferrin (Lf) can serve as a therapeutic agent to prevent the onset of AKI.
The results of this research were published in the international academic journal "Nature Medicine" on January 8, 2018 (US Eastern Standard Time).
For the full press release, please see below.