( Acute renal failure or ARF is as seri...)Stem cells bring fast direct improvement, without differentiation, in acute renal failure

The most serious form of ARF is caused by ischemia, or loss of blood supply to the kidneys caused by shock, blood infection or major cardiovascular surgery, particularly in such high- risk patients as those with diabetes, underlying renal disease, and the elderly. In the kidneys, such "insults" lead to destruction of kidney tubular and vascular cells, initiating a significant inflammatory response. Recovery of kidney function that is adequate for patient survival depends primarily on the protection and regeneration of destroyed and injured cells.

Yet virtually no progress has been made toward development of any highly effective ARF therapy for decades. "Basically, catastrophic loss of kidney function has remained treatment-resistant despite dialysis and intensive care. Treating patients with ARF thus presents a major clinical dilemma, particularly when severe ARF occurs with multiple organ failure," Christof Westenfelder from the University of Utah explained. "Our laboratory has therefore been pursuing development of novel therapeutic interventions that are urgently needed to treat this common, devastating and costly human disease," Westenfelder said.

Challenging the accepted theory of stem cell operation

In a new study, Westenfelder's team reported that injecting stem cells similar to the type used in bone marrow transplants is "highly renoprotective, showing almost immediate improvement in both kidney function and degree of tissue injury, followed by accelerated regeneration and return of function," he said. Furthermore, "these beneficial effects are predominantly mediated, as our data suggest, by paracrine rather than transdifferentiation-depend
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Source:American Physiological Society