Kidney regenerated by stem cells

Collaborative research between scientists from the UK Imperial Cancer Research Fund and the Imperial College School of Medicine, London, has shown for the first time that bone marrow cells are able to turn into kidney cells. The researchers believe that this discovery will help pave the way to treating kidney damage caused by cancer, diabetes and other diseases.

The scientists showed that the bone marrow stem cells could develop into kidney cells by analysing 'female kidneys' which had been transplanted into male patients who also received injections of bone marrow stem cells into an artery supplying blood to the kidney. They then used a DNA probe which identifies male cells to see if any male kidney cells were present in the donated kidneys - this meant that the bone marrow cells had transformed into kidney cells.

Professor Nick Wright believes the discovery is very exciting as the kidney is not good at repairing itself, and this means that a patient's own bone marrow can be used in treatment, meaning that the chance of rejection by the immune system is lessened. He said 'anti-rejection medication after a kidney transplant costs about £5,000 per patient a year, and each year the number of patients needing kidney transplants increases by about 5 per cent. It would be fantastic to save kidney patients this trauma and save the NHS some money.'

The scientists hope that clinical trials based on this discovery will take place within two years. But they stress that there is much work to do to understand and perfect the technique.