Kidney Progress: Drug slows cyst growth
By Nathan Seppa
An experimental drug called roscovitine may inhibit a degenerative kidney disease that so far has defied cure, a study in mice shows.
Combined with promising results from animal studies on other potential drugs, the new finding brightens the outlook for people with the inherited condition called polycystic kidney disease (PKD). The disease, whose symptoms often don’t arise until adulthood, usually causes back pain, high blood pressure, urinary tract infections, and, ultimately, kidney failure. Other than a complete-kidney transplant, available treatments address only the disease’s symptoms.