Today in kidney research
Brief for 2026-09-09 · generated 2026-09-10T03:17:35.804Z
Nothing solid landed today, just an early lab idea about safer blood thinners
-
The only item that came in was a preprint review, which means it has not been checked by other scientists yet.
-
It describes a new type of blood thinner that might lower clot risk with less bleeding, but that has not been tested in people with kidney disease.
-
There is nothing here to bring to your doctor yet, and no reason to change anything you are doing now.
Today was a quiet day for kidney research. One preprint review came through, looking at a new class of blood thinner designed to cut clotting without raising bleeding risk. Clotting and bleeding both matter a lot in kidney disease, so this is worth watching over time. But the work is early, unreviewed, and has not included kidney patients, so treat it as a idea being explored rather than news you can act on.
The podocyte contactome in lupus nephritis: Current evidence and a framework for disease progression
This review looks at podocytes, the delicate cells that form the kidney's filter and stop protein from leaking into the urine. It gathers lab findings on the connections those cells make with their neighbors, and proposes a map of how those links break down in lupus kidney disease. The work is in cells and tissue, not in people, so it points at possible drug targets and nothing more. No abstract came with this record, so the details are limited to what the title states.
Impact of diabetic nephropathy on outcomes following total knee arthroplasty: A propensity score-matched analysis.
This study asked whether kidney damage from diabetes raises the risk of problems around a first knee replacement. Researchers used a large United States hospital database and matched patients with and without that kidney damage on their other health problems. They tracked complications, deaths and how much hospital care each group used. The actual numbers are not in the text available here. A look back at records can show a link, not proof that the kidney damage caused worse outcomes.
A Study to Investigate Outcomes With Elecoglipron Compared With Placebo in Adult Participants With Chronic Kidney Disease.
A large late-stage trial is starting to test a drug called elecoglipron against a placebo, a dummy pill, in adults with chronic kidney disease. Everyone in the study stays on dapagliflozin, an SGLT2 inhibitor already known to protect kidneys, plus their usual care. That design asks a useful question: does this drug add anything on top of the best treatment we have? People with and without type 2 diabetes can join. There are no results yet.
Keeping RAASi Treatment With Optimal Potassium Control
Drugs called RAAS inhibitors protect the kidneys, but they can push potassium in the blood too high, so doctors often cut the dose or stop them. This trial tests a different fix: keep the kidney-protective drug and add sodium zirconium cyclosilicate (Lokelma), a medicine that pulls extra potassium out of the body. It compares that against the usual approach of reducing or stopping the RAAS inhibitor. The study is open-label, meaning everyone knows which treatment they got. There are no results yet.
GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and Muscle Loss in Chronic Kidney Disease.
A published journal piece on GLP-1 drugs, the weight-loss and diabetes medicines, and muscle loss in people with chronic kidney disease. Losing muscle matters in kidney disease because it is linked to weakness and worse outcomes. No abstract or data came through with this record, so there is nothing here to grade. Treat it as a discussion of a real concern, not evidence about how large that concern is.
Irisin upregulation as a contributory mechanism for the therapeutic benefits of SGLT-2 inhibitors.
This review argues that SGLT2 inhibitors, kidney-protective diabetes drugs, may work partly by raising irisin, a hormone that muscles release during exercise. The evidence behind that idea comes from lab and animal work, not from studies in people. It is a proposed explanation for benefits we already know these drugs have, so it does not change how anyone is treated. The exercise connection is interesting but this is a drug mechanism story, not a mind-body finding.
Impact of nonsteroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonism on cardiorenal outcomes in diabetic kidney disease: a systematic review.
This review gathered randomized trials of finerenone and drugs like it in adults whose kidney disease comes from type 2 diabetes. These drugs block a hormone that makes the body hold onto salt, which raises blood pressure and strains the kidneys. The team searched five research databases through October 2024 and looked at both kidney and heart results, plus safety. A pooled review of randomized trials is the strongest kind of evidence, though this summary does not give the size of the benefit.
Association of GLP-1 Receptor Agonists Versus Other Antidiabetic Medications With Cardiovascular, Renal, and Liver Outcomes in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes.
Researchers compared GLP-1 drugs, the same family as semaglutide, against seven other diabetes medicines in Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes. They used regional health records from 2018 to 2024 and followed heart, kidney, and liver outcomes. This is a records study, so it can show a link but cannot prove the drug caused the difference. People given one drug often differ from people given another in ways the records do not capture.
SGLT2 Inhibitors and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients With Fabry Disease: Observations From a Federated Research Network.
Fabry disease is a rare inherited illness that damages the kidneys and the heart, and there is very little research on which drugs help. This study used a large global network of patient records to see whether SGLT2 inhibitors, pills that protect kidneys in diabetes and heart failure, were linked to fewer heart events here too. It included adults with a kidney filtering rate (eGFR) of 20 or above. Because it draws on records rather than a trial, it shows a link and not proof of cause.
Genome-wide association study of estimated glomerular filtration rate using repeated measurements in the Taiwan Biobank
Researchers scanned the full genetic code of people in the Taiwan Biobank to find gene differences tied to kidney filtering rate (eGFR). Instead of one lab test per person, they used repeated tests over time, which gives a better picture of how kidney function changes. Gene studies like this show links and point to biology worth studying further. Nothing here changes treatment today.
Case Report: Advanced IgA nephropathy with psoriasis and a complex clinicopathologic course
This is a report on one person with advanced IgA nephropathy, a disease where the immune system damages the kidney's filters. The same person also had psoriasis, a skin disease, and their illness took a complicated turn. A single patient's story can show a possible link, not proof that one condition caused the other. It cannot tell you what will happen to anyone else.
New ASN Guidance Helps Nephrologists Navigate CKM Care for People With Kidney Diseases
The American Society of Nephrology released new advice for kidney doctors on treating people whose heart, kidney, and metabolic problems overlap. Doctors call this combination CKM, short for cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic. This is a news piece about guidance, not a study, so there are no new results. It may still change how your own care is organized.
Efficacy and safety of GLP-1RAs, SGLT2is, and nsMRAs for cardiovascular and renal outcomes in T2DM with CKD: a systematic review and network meta-analysis
This review pooled many randomized trials in people who have both type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease. It compared three drug families against each other: GLP-1 drugs, SGLT2 inhibitors, and non-steroidal MRAs, which block a hormone that raises blood pressure and scars the kidney. It looked at heart and kidney outcomes and at side effects. Pooling randomized trials this way is the strongest kind of evidence for deciding which drug to reach for first.
IFN-γ–dominant immune shift is associated with reduced protective ILC2 responses in chronic kidney disease
In chronic kidney disease the immune system tilted toward one alarm signal called IFN-gamma. At the same time a protective immune cell type, called ILC2, responded less than it should. This was laboratory work on immune cells, not a treatment tested in people. It offers a possible reason kidney disease keeps inflammation going, and nothing more yet.
Are P-CABs Associated With Nephrotoxicity in People With CKD?
This is a short commentary asking whether a newer class of acid reflux drugs (potassium-competitive acid blockers, or P-CABs) harms the kidneys in people who already have kidney disease. Older reflux drugs have been linked to kidney problems, so the question matters for anyone taking them long term. The piece raises the concern and reviews what is known. It presents no new study results.
Association of Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease and Aortic Disease
This is a commentary on the connection between polycystic kidney disease, an inherited condition where fluid-filled sacs grow in the kidneys, and disease of the aorta, the body's main artery. People with the kidney condition appear to have more aneurysms and tears in that artery. The piece summarizes the concern for clinicians. It reports no new data.
Silent Brain Lesions in Chronic Kidney Disease: A Hidden Burden
This review covers silent brain lesions in people with chronic kidney disease: small areas of damage that show up on brain scans without causing obvious symptoms. They are common in kidney patients and are linked to later stroke and memory problems. The article gathers what is known and argues the problem is under-recognized. It is a narrative review, so it pools no new numbers of its own.
MORG1 Haploinsufficiency Is Associated with Stage- and Sex-Dependent Renoprotection and Signalling Alterations in Diabetic Kidney Disease
Mice with only one working copy of a gene called MORG1 had less kidney damage from diabetes than normal mice. The protection depended on the stage of the disease and on whether the animal was male or female. This was done in animals, not people, so it does not yet tell anyone with kidney disease what to do.
Antihypertensive Pharmacotherapy in Chronic Kidney Disease: Integrating eGFR-Based Cutoffs, Mechanistic Insights, and Emerging Therapeutic Pathways.
This is a review article, not a new study, so it reports no new results. It pulls together current advice on treating high blood pressure in people with chronic kidney disease, including which drugs to use at different levels of kidney filtering rate (eGFR). The authors note that newer drugs improve protein in the urine, kidney filtering rate over time, and heart outcomes. They also say it is hard to tell how much of that comes from lower blood pressure and how much from the drugs' other effects.
Effects and potential mechanisms of astragaloside IV in animal models of renal fibrosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Researchers pooled results from many animal studies of astragaloside IV, a compound from the herb Astragalus, in kidney scarring. Scarring is the main way chronic kidney disease gets worse over time, and there are still very few treatments that target it. Across eight research databases, the compound protected animal kidneys and reduced scarring. This was all in animals, not people, so it is not a treatment anyone should take yet.
Molecular Hydrogen and the Uremic Skeleton: A Critical Review and Turnover-State-Dependent Redox Hypothesis in CKD-MBD
Kidney disease weakens bones, a problem doctors call CKD-MBD, or chronic kidney disease mineral and bone disorder. This review looks at hydrogen gas as a possible treatment and proposes that it may help or hurt depending on whether a person's bones are rebuilding too fast or too slowly. It is an argument built from earlier work, not a new study. There are no results in patients here.
DENTAL IMPLANT THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE: CLINICAL CONSIDERATIONS, TIMING, AND SAFETY
This review covers how to place dental implants in people with chronic kidney disease, including when to do it and how to keep it safe. Kidney disease affects bone healing, infection risk, and bleeding, so implant work needs extra planning. It pulls together existing clinical advice and reports no new study results.
Prognostic evaluation of boys with posterior urethral valves using a recursive feature elimination machine learning framework
Posterior urethral valves are a birth defect that blocks urine flow in boys and can damage the kidneys over time. Researchers built a computer model that picks out which patient measurements best predict how these boys will do. The model was trained on records of past patients, so it shows patterns linked to outcomes, not causes. It has not been tested on new patients in a trial.
Real-world use of pegylated erythropoietin in CKD-related anemia: an Indian modified Delphi consensus
Kidney doctors in India were surveyed in rounds until they agreed on how to use a long-acting form of erythropoietin, a drug for low red blood cell counts in chronic kidney disease. Low red blood cells, called anemia, is common when kidneys are failing and causes tiredness and breathlessness. This is pooled expert opinion, not a trial, so it reports no patient results. No abstract was posted, so the specific recommendations are not available here.
Structured medication review in elderly patients with chronic kidney disease to assess treatment appropriateness
Clinicians went through the full medicine list of older adults with chronic kidney disease to check whether each drug was still the right choice. Older kidney patients often take many drugs, and some need a lower dose or should be stopped once the kidneys weaken. Work like this shows a link between reviews and better prescribing, not proof that the reviews make people live longer. No abstract was posted, so the number of patients and the size of any effect are not available.
Endocrine crosstalk in cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome-related heart failure: the fibroblast growth factor 23-Klotho axis and cardiometabolic therapy
This review looks at two body signals, FGF23 and Klotho, that fall out of balance when kidneys stop working well. The authors trace how that imbalance may strain the heart in people who have kidney, heart and metabolic disease together, and which drugs might act on it. It summarizes other people's research and reports no new patient results.
Diabetic kidney disease within the framework of cardio-kidney-metabolic health: a paradigm shift
This paper argues that kidney disease caused by diabetes should be treated as one part of a linked heart, kidney and metabolic problem, not as a separate illness on its own. The point is that the same drugs and the same risk factors cut across all three. It is a viewpoint piece written by specialists, not a study, so there are no new patient results.
Association of the Triglyceride–Glucose Index with Contrast-Associated Acute Kidney Injury in Patients with Atherosclerotic Renal Artery Stenosis
Researchers checked whether a simple score built from blood fat and blood sugar levels predicted kidney damage after patients received dye for an imaging scan. Everyone in the study had narrowed arteries feeding the kidneys, which already puts them at higher risk from the dye. This kind of study shows a link between a high score and kidney injury, not proof that the score's causes are what harm the kidney. No abstract was posted, so the number of patients and the strength of the link are not available.
Orforglipron and the Kidney: A Promise or Disappointment? The Need for Trials Examining Renal Outcomes.
Orforglipron is the first GLP-1 drug of its class that comes as a pill instead of a shot. This review argues it could suit people with chronic kidney disease because the liver clears it, so damaged kidneys do not have to. The authors searched the published literature and the trial registry through May 2026 and found no trial testing whether the drug protects kidneys. They are calling for one. There are no kidney results yet.
Chronic kidney disease of unknown origin - management proposal.
In farming communities in Central America, Sri Lanka and India, many people lose kidney function for no known reason. They often do not have the usual causes such as diabetes or high blood pressure, and they have little protein in their urine. Suspected triggers include repeated heat stress, farm chemicals, silica particles and contaminated groundwater, but none is proven. This paper proposes how to manage these patients. It is a set of recommendations, not a study, so it carries no new data.
Albuminuria in Heart Failure: A Cardiorenal Integration Biomarker Beyond Chronic Kidney Disease.
Albumin is a blood protein that leaks into urine when kidney filters are damaged. This review argues that in heart failure the leak signals more than kidney injury: it also flags fluid overload and stressed blood vessels throughout the body. The authors suggest it could pick out patients who need stronger heart and kidney protection, and they say that idea still has to be tested in future studies. It is a review of existing thinking, so there are no new results.
Effect of a multimodal exercise program combined with inspiratory muscle training on cardiovascular recovery, functional capacity, and quality of life in CKD patients with Type 4 cardiorenal syndrome
This was a small trial of a mixed exercise program plus breathing-muscle training in people who have both kidney disease and heart failure, a combination doctors call type 4 cardiorenal syndrome. It measured heart recovery, how much physical activity people could manage, and their quality of life. The record came with no abstract, so the number of people, the length of the program, and the size of any benefit are not available here. Without those numbers, treat this as a promising direction rather than proof that the program works.
Feasibility of The Health Integrated Nutrition and Kidney Wellness Program
This is a small feasibility study of a 7-session nutrition and kidney health education program for adults with kidney disease. It is not asking whether the program improves kidney function. It is asking whether people will sign up, finish all 7 sessions, and like it. Patients and community partners helped design the program. There are no results yet.
Blood cadmium and mortality among U.S. stroke survivors: a survey-weighted NHANES-linked cohort study of competing risks and renal pathways
This study looked at cadmium levels in the blood of U.S. stroke survivors and whether higher levels went with a higher risk of dying. Cadmium is a toxic metal that people take in mostly from cigarette smoke and some foods, and the kidneys hold onto it. The researchers also tested whether kidney damage sits on the path between the metal and the deaths. It follows people over time without assigning anything, so it shows a link, not proof of cause, and it is a preprint that has not been peer reviewed.
The burden of bladder cancer and kidney cancer attributable to smoking in Latin America and the Caribbean from 1990 to 2023 and projections to 2050
This study counts how many bladder and kidney cancers in Latin America and the Caribbean can be traced to smoking, from 1990 through 2023, and projects the numbers out to 2050. It works from national population statistics rather than following individual patients, so it maps patterns instead of proving cause in any one person. Smoking is already an accepted cause of kidney cancer, and this puts a number on the regional burden. It is about cancer, not the gradual loss of kidney function.
Gut microbiota and metabolomics reveal the combined effects of Alpinia oxyphylla fructus polysaccharide and nootkatone on chronic kidney disease via the “gut-kidney” axis
Researchers tested two compounds from a Chinese herb, a plant sugar and an oil called nootkatone, given together in chronic kidney disease. They tracked gut bacteria and body chemistry to see how the gut and the kidney talk to each other. This was lab and animal work, not people yet. It does not show the supplement is safe or helpful for humans.
Deciphering Geoenvironmental Determinants of Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etiology: An Integrated Trace-Metal, Hydrological and Explainable Machine-Learning Framework for the Sri Lankan Dry Zone
In Sri Lanka's dry zone, many farm workers get kidney disease with no known cause. Researchers combined water data, trace metal levels, and machine learning to find which environmental features line up with where the disease clusters. This shows a link between local water and soil conditions and disease patterns, not proof that any one metal causes it. It is a preprint and has not passed peer review.
Obesity and reduced renal corticomedullary differentiation on T1 mapping: a population-based UK Biobank study
Researchers used MRI scans of the kidneys in UK Biobank, a very large group of British adults. People carrying more body fat had a blurrier line between the outer and inner parts of the kidney, which can be an early sign of kidney damage. This shows a link between weight and kidney appearance, not proof that weight caused it. The record we received did not include the number of people scanned.
Nutritional rehabilitation of elderly and senile patients with non-dialysis chronic kidney disease. Case report
Doctors describe a nutrition plan for one older adult who had chronic kidney disease but was not yet on dialysis. Poor nutrition and muscle loss are common at this stage and make people weaker and more fragile. This is a single patient story, so it can suggest a link but cannot prove the diet caused the change. No abstract was posted, so the weight, kidney numbers and follow-up time are not available.
The nutrition–microbiota–gut–kidney axis in acute kidney injury: molecular mechanisms, candidate biomarkers, and investigational intervention strategies
This review pulls together what is known about how food and gut bacteria may affect sudden kidney injury, meaning a fast drop in kidney function over hours or days. It lists possible warning signs that could be measured in blood or urine, and treatments that are still only being tested. The work is a summary of existing studies, mostly early laboratory ones, and reports no new results in people.
Health, lifestyle and care barriers of night shift workers in Japan.
A nationwide online survey in Japan compared night shift workers with other workers on long-term illness, daily habits and trouble getting medical care. People reported their own health once, so this shows a link, not proof that shift work causes anything. The paper covers chronic disease in general and reports no kidney-specific finding. It is dropped from today's brief for that reason.
Effects of nandrolone decanoate on lean body mass and anemia in adults with chronic kidney disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Researchers pooled the randomized trials of nandrolone decanoate, an injected anabolic steroid, in adults with chronic kidney disease. It targets two common problems: muscle and protein loss, and low red blood cell counts. They searched four medical databases up to February 18, 2026, and combined the trials they found. The measures were lean body mass, meaning muscle and organs rather than fat, and blood counts. Note what was not measured: whether people lived longer or kept kidney function.
Retinal neurovascular signatures in response to 6-month yoga exercise in patients with Parkinson's Disease.
Seventeen people with Parkinson's disease, average age 71, did three one-hour yoga sessions a week for 24 weeks. Researchers measured blood flow and vessel density in the retina, the light-sensing layer at the back of the eye, before and after. Everyone did yoga, so there was no comparison group, and any change cannot be credited to the yoga. The study is about Parkinson's disease, not kidney disease, so it is out of scope here.
Derivation of primary fetal epithelial organoids from cryopreserved human amniotic fluid cells.
Researchers grew tiny lab models of human tissue, called organoids, from cells floating in amniotic fluid around a fetus. The fluid had been frozen and thawed first, and the cells still grew into kidney, lung and gut tissue. This offers a way to study fetal kidney tissue without needing tissue from ended pregnancies. It was done in the lab only, not in people, and it is an early report that other scientists have not yet reviewed.
The Reset Button Reaches Nephrology: CAR-T Cell Therapy for Autoimmune Kidney Disease
This is a commentary about CAR-T cell therapy moving into kidney medicine. CAR-T means a person's own immune cells are collected, re-engineered, and put back to attack the cells driving their disease. It has worked in blood cancers, and doctors are now trying it in kidney diseases where the immune system attacks the kidney. The article discusses the idea and early cases. It reports no trial results.
Development and evaluation of an AI-based prediction model for chronic kidney disease after cardiac surgery.
Researchers built a computer tool that flags patients likely to develop chronic kidney disease after heart surgery, which often goes unnoticed for years. They used more than 200 pieces of routine medical information from heart surgery patients at a Danish hospital, then tested the tool on a separate group. The tool is designed to explain which factors drove each prediction. This is based on past medical records, so it shows patterns and risk, not proof of cause, and it has not been shown to improve outcomes.
Reassembly of human kidney organoids after dissociation.
Scientists grew mini-kidneys, called organoids, from reprogrammed human stem cells. They broke the organoids apart into single cells and found the cells could regroup into kidney-like structures again. That matters as a technique: it opens a window to add other cell types or change genes before the cells rebuild. This was done in the lab, not in people, and these organoids are very immature, closer to a kidney at 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Hereditary thrombophilia due to a novel histidine-rich glycoprotein mutation leading to deferral of kidney transplantation: a case report.
A 42-year-old woman on dialysis kept getting blood clots in her dialysis access, the vein or graft used to connect her to the machine. Standard clotting tests looked normal, but low antithrombin and a high D-dimer, both blood markers of clotting trouble, led doctors to test her genes. They found a new mutation in the HRG gene that causes an inherited tendency to clot, and her kidney transplant was put off because of it. This is one patient, so it shows a possible link between this mutation and clotting, not proof that the mutation caused it.
Expanding the living kidney donor pool: outcomes of robotic donor nephrectomy in obese versus non-obese donors
Surgeons compared robot-assisted kidney removal in living donors who had obesity with donors who did not. The point is to let more people safely donate a kidney, which would shorten waiting lists. This compared past cases rather than assigning people at random, so it shows a link between donor weight and outcomes, not proof of cause.
iCaReMe Global Registry: Multinational Real-world Evidence in Cardiorenal and Metabolic Diseases
This is a registry, a long-term record of real patients with type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart failure, or kidney disease. It tracks who they are, what care they get, how often they use the health system, and how they do over time. It is a data collection effort across many countries, not a test of any treatment. There are no results yet.
Can Early Nephrology Consultation Prevent Severe AKI in Patients at Risk?
This is a short piece in a kidney professionals' newsletter asking whether calling in a kidney specialist early can prevent severe sudden kidney injury. Sudden kidney injury (AKI) is a fast drop in kidney function, and it happens most often to people already in the hospital. The article discusses the question rather than testing it, so there are no results yet.
Telehealth Continues to Prove Its Value for Kidney Care
This is a news article in a kidney professionals' newsletter making the case that video and phone visits keep earning their place in kidney care. It reports on how telehealth is being used rather than running a study, so it carries no new numbers. The practical point for patients is access, since remote visits matter most for people who live far from a kidney clinic or dialysis center.
Red blood cell distribution width is an indicator of physiological dysregulation and reveals the relationship between biomarkers and health status in hemodialysis patients
Red blood cells come in a range of sizes, and how spread out that range is can be measured with a common blood test (red cell distribution width). In people on dialysis, a wider spread tracked with worse overall health and with other markers of body stress. This is an observational study, so it shows a link, not proof that the wider spread causes harm. It is a preprint and has not passed peer review yet.
Coverage gaps
What did not reach today's brief, and why. A dashboard that hides its own blind spots is worse than no dashboard.
- YouTube, National Kidney Foundation: youtube: HTTP 404
- YouTube, NephJC / Freely Filtered: youtube: HTTP 404
- YouTube, Dr Joe Dispenza: youtube: HTTP 404
- YouTube — National Kidney Foundation: youtube: HTTP 404
- YouTube — Dr. Joe Dispenza: youtube: HTTP 404
- YouTube — NephJC / Freely Filtered: youtube: HTTP 404