"These findings can advance the use of genetic screening for those at high risk of developing kidney failure, which might enable preventative early treatment in at risk individuals," said Skorecki. "The research findings will also advance future research into the mechanisms wherein abnormalities in the protein encoded by MYH9 affect the normal filtering function of the kidney, and thereby could lead to the development of new methods for treating and preventing terminal kidney failure."

Genetic factors were once believed to play only a minor role in the development of certain rare types of kidney disease that run in families. However, careful analyses over the past decade have uncovered ethnic or population-based differences in the prevalence of common forms of kidney disease that were not thought to have a strong hereditary component, based on family pedigree analysis. Socio-economic factors were not able to explain these ethnic disparities in kidney disease, leading several U.S. teams - as well as the Technion-led team - to search for genetic factors. Previous findings by the Technion team showed that Ethiopians are protected from some forms of kidney disease to which people from other parts of Africa are more susceptible. The Technion team postulated that population-based differences in genetic factors within Africa might provide the explanation, and are currently testing the MYH9 kidney failure markers in Ethiopians residing in Addis Ababa and in Haifa, Israel.

Source: Technion-Israel Institute of Technology