Researchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have discovered a possible cause and treatment for the formation of cysts in polycystic kidney disease (PKD).
 
A team of physicians and researchers showed tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), a protein shown to play a role in inflammation, disrupts the production of a gene that mutates in PKD patients. This promotes the formation of cysts. Additionally, the team found the drug etanercept, which is currently used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, prevents the formation of cysts in mice with PKD.

This article originally appeared in the August 2008 issue of Renal Flash.