Research conducted by University of Louisville scientists is showing promise in determining what causes many diabetes patients to suffer kidney failure.The team is led by Dr. Paul Epstein, acting director of the Kosair Children’s Hospital Research Institute. He says researchers have been able to replicate--in lab mice--genetic changes that take place in the human kidney during diabetic failure. That suggests to us that interfering with this inflammatory process that’s going on will most likely be a possible approach for therapy for slowing the progression of the disease and maybe not so important for stopping it at its very beginning," he said. Epstein says its hoped that the research will eventually lead to human testing and the development of drugs to treat diabetic kidney failure.The research is the focus of an article this month in the medical journal Experimental Nephrology.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.
