As we all know, patients of Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) carry the cysts
gene form their birth and the cysts will grow gradually with the increase of
age. All the hazards of this disease are caused by the cysts of the kidneys and
the enlargement of cysts. Then how does the cyst form and what is the mechanism
of the cysts formation.
Cyst formation begins in utero from any point along the nephron, although
fewer than 5% of nephrons are thought to be involved. This is because that this
disease is a type of genetic disease. At the beginning of pregnancy, the baby
has 50 percent of chance to carry the cyst-gene if either his parent has this
disease, which means that the baby has cysts in his kidneys at the beginning of
his life. But at this time the cysts are rather small and they won't affect the
health of the baby. As the cysts accumulate fluid, they enlarge, separate
entirely from the nephrons, compress the neighboring renal parenchyma, and
progressively compromise renal function. This is the reason why we say that this
disease is a kind of late-onset disorder characterized by progressive cyst
development and bilaterally enlarged kidneys with multiple cysts.
Then why the cysts can enlarge with the increase of age? The abnormal
hyperplasia of kidney tubules epithelial cells is its outstanding feature. When
the kidney tubules epithelial cells turn into cysts epithelial cells, they begin
to have the function of secretion. The liquid they secreted become more and more
but there is no normal approach to eliminate. So with the increase of age and
the accumulation of liquid, the cysts will gradually enlarge and the cysts
pressure will increase, then the cysts will press the surrounding renal tissues
and the tension of cysts wall will increase.
Then there is another question: what will cause "the abnormal hyperplasia of
kidney tubules epithelial cells". Except the gene factor, there is another
cause: the conditions of ischemia and anoxia of the cells, which is caused by
the external factors, such as having a cold, infections, injuries, hypertension,
pregnancy, over working, toxin, and emotion and etc.
Now we can know the causes and the process of the enlargement of the cysts.
Then on the basis of this, we can adopt more effective therapy to treat
Polycystic Kidney Disease.
What is the effective therapy? The effective therapy should aim at
controlling the secretion of cysts fluid and the "the abnormal hyperplasia of
kidney tubules epithelial cells", thus achieve the goal of contracting the
cysts, controlling the enlargement of cysts and preventing the damage to renal
function.
