The Pathogenesis of PKD

Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) is a type of common genetic disease,and has the characteristic of familial aggregation. It brings great suffering to the patients and their families. What is the pathogenesis of PKD? Learning the pathogenesis of this disease can help the patients to prevent the attack of it and have better treatments.

As a type of genetic disease, PKD can be divided into autosomal dominant inheritance(ADPKD) and autosomal recessive inheritance (ARPKD) according to its inheritance law. And the former is more common in clinical. Patients with ARPKD usually only can live for a short period, so the latter one is rare in clinical. Then let us talk something of ADPKD.

The attack of ADPKD is the result of internal and external causes. The internal cause of ADPKD means the inherent factor, and the genetic cysts genes are on the chromosome 16. As for the external causes of this disease, they mean the various factors which can cause the abnormal changes of body's internal environment, such as infection,renal toxin substances (including medicine), state of mind, tiredness and diets and etc.

How do these factors affect the kidney? 1, under the repeated influences of external factors, the cysts gene will change the metabolism of renal tubular epithelial cells and generate the growth factors, which could promote the hyperplasia, block the renal tubule and cause the fluid retention and further generate the cysts. 2, the cysts genes could change the shape of shape of basement membrane and renal tubule and affect the exchange of Na-K-ATP enzyme and ion, which will increase the liquid of cysts. 3, the half obstruction state of cysts' exits and entrances will make the cysts easy to come but difficult to flow out for liquid. And the liquid of hyperplastic cysts wall cells also can enlarge the cysts. 4, the external factors can cause the thanatosis and obstruction of epithelial cells directly and promote the hyperplasia of cells.


Now we can know that the internal factors won't change without the external factors. This is the reason why patients carry the cysts genes once they were born, but this disease attacks usually after 30 years old (the average age of attack).So as for PKD patients, they must pay attention to the external factors and prevent the attack of this disease. Hope the knowledge is helpful for your health.