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Salt substitution — the partial replacement of sodium with potassium in table salt — is emerging as a powerful public health strategy to reduce hypertension and related diseases. Here, we explore whether salt substitution is suitable for people with kidney disease by weighing the potential cardiorenal benefits against the risk of hyperkalaemia.
Indigenous Māori experience inequitably high rates of kidney failure and lower rates of kidney transplant, pre-emptive procedures and home dialysis when compared to the New Zealand population as a whole. Prevention strategies in primary care, cultural safety training and routine clinical audit for renal practitioners alongside Indigenous people in governance, management and the clinical workforce would greatly improve Māori outcomes.
The fibrogenic niche is a unique tissue microenvironment that promotes fibroblast activation in organ fibrosis. This Review discusses the composition, function and mechanisms of action of the fibrogenic niche in kidney fibrosis, as well as the potential implications of the fibrogenic niche hypothesis for the future diagnosis and treatment of kidney diseases.
The cyclic GMP–AMP synthase (cGAS)–stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway not only is involved in host defence against infection but can lead to immune dysregulation. Here, the authors examine the biology and biochemistry of cGAS–STING and discuss its role in disease and potential approaches to therapeutic targeting.
Hypoxia-dependent changes in cellular metabolism have important implications for the effective functioning of multiple immune cell subtypes. This Review describes the inputs that shape the hypoxic response in individual cell types and contexts, and the implications of this response for cellular metabolism and associated alterations in immune cell function.
The interplay between immunological and metabolic processes is important in a variety of processes. This Review describes how changes in lipid and energy metabolism, driven by receptors of the innate immune system, contribute to the response of tubule epithelial cells to injury and the functional consequences of these intersecting pathways in kidney health and disease.
