Credit score: College Hospital Bonn / lab Prof. Christian Kurts
Will or not it’s potential to deal with extreme kidney irritation with fewer medication sooner or later? A brand new examine by the College Hospital Bonn (UKB), the College of Bonn, and the College of Hamburg offers trigger for hope. The researchers present that even low, repeated doses of steroids may very well be sufficient to cease irritation in notably aggressive crescentic glomerulonephritis (cGN).
The findings, revealed in Science Translational Medication, may basically change the remedy of many sufferers—and considerably cut back unwanted effects.
cGN is without doubt one of the most harmful types of kidney irritation. With out remedy, it may possibly result in terminal kidney failure inside just a few weeks. The usual remedy thus far consists of excessive doses of glucocorticoids (steroids), which strongly suppress the immune system. Though these medication are efficient, they’re typically related to vital unwanted effects, together with diabetes, osteoporosis, and extreme infections.
The crew led by Professor Christian Kurts, director of the Institute for Molecular Medication and Experimental Immunology on the UKB and member of the ImmunoSensation² Cluster of Excellence and the Transdisciplinary Analysis Space (TRA) “Life and Health” on the College of Bonn, has now investigated in additional element how steroids work within the kidney—and why decrease doses could obtain the identical impact.
Utilizing fashionable single-cell and spatial gene sequencing and illness fashions in mice, the researchers recognized a particular subgroup of pro-inflammatory neutrophils as immune cells that considerably promote kidney harm. These cells originate immediately within the infected kidney tissue and stay energetic there longer than regular neutrophils.
“Our study shows that doctors do not necessarily need extremely high doses of steroids to suppress these cells—small, repeated doses may be sufficient,” explains Prof. Kurts.
Within the mouse mannequin, the researchers had been in a position to present that low, commonly administered glucocorticoids block the formation of those dangerous cells—even with out an preliminary excessive dose. Kidney biopsies from sufferers handled with low doses additionally confirmed fewer of those immune cells.
“Single-cell sequencing allowed us to track the harmful neutrophils directly in the inflamed kidney,” says Dr. Junping Yin, first writer of the examine and doctoral scholar with Prof. Kurts. “This opens up new ways to use steroids in a more targeted and safer manner.”
If the outcomes are confirmed in medical trials, sufferers may gain advantage sooner or later from safer, low-dose therapies that defend their kidneys with out placing pointless pressure on the physique. In the long run, the method may additionally have an effect on different autoimmune and inflammatory ailments during which steroids are presently utilized in excessive doses.
Extra data:
Junping Yin et al, Low-dose glucocorticoids attenuate crescentic glomerulonephritis by inhibiting the native differentiation of proinflammatory neutrophils, Science Translational Medication (2025). DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.adu0351. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.adu0351
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College Hospital of Bonn
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Much less may be extra: Low-dose steroids may successfully deal with extreme kidney irritation (2025, October 15)
retrieved 15 October 2025
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