Could a parent’s diet before and during pregnancy influence the severity of polycystic kidney disease in their children?
Professor David Long from University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health has received a PKD PhD studentship grant of £126,000 to understand how a parent’s diet before and during pregnancy influences polycystic kidney disease severity in their children. This project forms part of the PKD Partnership, led by Kidney Research UK and the PKD Charity.
Lifestyle and environment may influence the severity of polycystic kidney disease
Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is an inherited condition that causes fluid-filled cysts to grow in the kidneys, gradually damaging them and often leading to kidney failure. The condition is passed from parents to children through faulty genes.
Some people’s kidneys fail early in life, while others stay healthy for much longer. This suggests that other factors such as lifestyle or environment may influence how severe the disease becomes.
High-fat diets and their potential impact across generations
High-fat diets are becoming more common in modern society, and they are known to increase the risk of health problems such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.
"Early pre-clinical research in our laboratory suggests that when parents eat a high-fat diet, their children may experience worse outcomes in PKD, including more fluid-filled cysts in the kidneys that appear to grow more quickly. Notably, this effect was also seen when only the father consumed a high-fat diet, indicating that diet may lead to lasting biological changes in parents that can influence their children’s health.
"Our new project, which is part of the PKD Partnership, aims to better understand how a parent’s diet before and during pregnancy may affect the severity of PKD in their children." Professor David Long.
Investigating diet-driven changes in PKD
This project will explore whether a parent's diet before and during pregnancy can affect the development of polycystic kidney disease in their children. David and the team will investigate how dietary factors influence kidney growth and the formation of kidney cysts, and whether these early changes could contribute to more severe disease later in life.
David will also use miniature human kidneys (known as organoids), grown in the laboratory. These organoids allow the team to study how cystic kidneys develop in a controlled environment and observe how different nutritional conditions may alter how the kidneys form and function.
Professor David Long explained:“By also growing organoids in conditions that mimic a high-fat or healthy diet, we can see how fat influences kidney cell growth and cyst formation. We will also look at how these conditions affect which genes are switched on or off, helping us understand the biological changes involved.”
What could this mean for patients and families affected by polycystic kidney disease?
The findings could improve our understanding of how diet influences PKD and may help identify new ways to reduce its impact.
"We are investigating whether diet, something that can be changed, could become an important target for prevention in PKD. This could mean that families affected by PKD are given clear dietary guidance when planning to have children, with the aim of reducing future disease risk.
"Ultimately, this may lead to new approaches that delay kidney failure, improve quality of life, and reduce the need for dialysis or transplantation.” Professor David Long.
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