2021/04/02
Keio University School of Medicine
A research group from the Department of Internal Medicine (Nephrology, Endocrinology and Metabolism) at the Keio University School of Medicine, led by Professor Yutaka Ito, Associate Professor Osamu Wakino, Project Lecturer Kazuhiro Hasegawa, and Assistant Professor Itaru Yasuda, has discovered a treatment that acts as a "domino stopper" for diabetic nephropathy. The "diabetic nephropathy domino effect" is a condition where a chain of events unfolds like falling dominoes: (1) onset of diabetes, (2) progression of diabetic nephropathy, a kidney disorder caused by diabetes, and (3) a high probability of eventually requiring dialysis. Diabetic nephropathy is also of great social importance as a risk factor for COVID-19. Now, based on the results of basic experiments, this research group has discovered a groundbreaking treatment that can act as a barrier, or a "stopper," for this diabetic nephropathy domino effect by devising a method for administering a substance called nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN).
The results of this research were published in the "Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN)" on April 2, 2021 (Japan Standard Time).
Please see below for the full press release.