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Animal models of polycystic kidney disease
Author(s) -
Aziz Nazneen
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.950170807
Subject(s) - polycystic kidney disease , kidney , disease , pathology , biology , cyst , parenchyma , cystic kidney disease , kidney disease , medicine , endocrinology
Abstract Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is one of the most prevalent causes of heritable renal failure. The disease is characterized by the occurrence of numerous fluid‐filled cysts within the parenchyma of kidney. The cysts are epithelial in origin and expand in size, leading to crowding of normal kidney tissue. Ultimately, there is gross enlargement of the kidneys with loss of normal functions, and death usually occurs because of complications related to renal failure. Animal models of polycystic kidney disease are proving to be extremely useful for studying the molecular basis of renal cyst formation and for the isolation of genes carrying the mutations. This article describes the various animal models of polycystic kidney disease, spontaneously and experimentally derived, that have recently been identified.