Looking for new ways to treat infection-related kidney disease in children
Dr Patrick Walsh from Newcastle University, in collaboration with Dr Emily Bowen from the University of Manchester, have received a Kidney Research UK paediatric start up grant of £40,000 to look at how changes in protein production might cause a type of kidney damage known as haemolytic uraemic syndrome (STEC-HUS) in children who become infected by the bacteria E. coli.
Meeting the challenge of STEC-HUS in children
STEC-HUS is a type of kidney damage caused by E. coli infection, usually from contaminated food, water or sometimes through exposure to animals. It is the most common cause of kidney failure in children, affecting around 100 children each year in the UK. Very sadly, around 1 in 20 of the children who are diagnosed with STEC-HUS will not survive.
Kidney damage happens quickly after infection, but we currently know very little about the processes that lead to this, which makes discovery of new treatments very difficult.
Dr Walsh commented: “STEC-HUS is a serious challenge for doctors as we do not currently have any effective ways to treat this condition. By learning more about how kidney damage occurs, it is my hope that we can find new approaches to protecting kidney cells in children with E. coli infections.”
Building on existing knowledge to improve patient care
E. coli can release a harmful substance called Shiga toxin into the bloodstream. Shiga toxin binds to kidney cells, causing disruption to normal protein production through a type of cell machinery known as the ribosome. Eventually, this process causes the cell to die, leading to loss of kidney tissue.
The team have found that the same process occurs in in a genetic condition form of the disease which is linked to faulty ribosomes. They will now use this knowledge to look for new ways to block ribosome damage in STEC-HUS, while also building our understanding of this condition.
Looking to the future of STEC-HUS care
This project has been designed to focus on developing new treatments for STEC-HUS that block damage to the kidney by understanding more about how the damage occurs.
Dr Walsh added: “Children with STEC-HUS can go from happy active lives to requiring significant medical support in a very short period of time. This is devastating for the child and their family. As a children’s doctor and researcher, it is my hope that this new approach to STEC-HUS could lead to the breakthrough that is needed to prevent any more families facing this situation.”
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