Immunotherapy to Treat Polycystic Kidney Disease

With deep research on PKD treatment, scientists has made a new break—Immunotherapy. Before learning more about Immunotherapy of treating PKD, the first thing should be done is to know what is Polycystic Kidney Disease and how does it occur.

Immunotherapy treats PKD starting with recovering and renewing injured renal cells. When cysts are still small, they seldom cause damage to renal parenchyma. But with cysts growing, they will compress surrounding renal tissue and renal blood vessel, which can lead to renal local microcirculation obstruction, causing renal ischemia and anoxia. These can damage endothelial cells of renal capillary and attract inflammatory cells infiltration in blood circulation, which speed up renal function injury and start the process of Renal Fibrous. Besides, mechanocyte distributing in renal interstitium can turn into myofibroblast which can secrete and synthesize Extracellular Matrix (ECM) and immune complex. These ECM and immune complex are not easy to de degraded. For this reason, there is an unbalance between ECM degradation and ECM synthesis. Massive ECM deposit in kidney, which causes glomerular sclerosis and renal tubular atrophy. Therefore, renal fibrous tissue will replace healthy nephron gradually. With renal function decline more and more, renal function disappear completely, which means that PKD has developed into end stage. At this moment, patients get Renal Failure or Uremia.

Immunotherapy is a kind of cell with characteristics of multi-directional differentiation and self-replication. Immunotherapy can distinguish injured renal inherent cells and recover these injured cells after they entering into kidney lesion. Besides, Immunotherapy can also produce various types of inherent cells, which can relieve the condition of renal ischemia and anoxia and promote blood circulation of cyst surface. All these methods are helpful to recycle cyst fluid. Besides, Immunotherapy can also inhibit cystic cells growing, which can shrink cysts gradually. Once renal inherent cells are repaired, they can play their function on degrading immune complex and ECM, achieving a balance between ECM synthesis and ECM degradation. Therefore, renal function recovers gradually.


Though Polycystic Kidney Disease is a kind of hereditary disease, it is not so terrible. Patients should cooperate with doctors actively. Beside, patients should pay more attention on daily diet and exercise. Regular examination is required in order to find this disease and take effective treatment as early as possible.