# Effect of Renal Nerves on Chronic Kidney Disease

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2024 · $509,655

## Abstract

Abstract
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) remains a major public health problem causing severe morbidity
and mortality in affected patients. The majority of CKD patients are treated with inhibitors of the
renin-angiotensin system (RAS) or sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) but the protection
afforded by these agents is incomplete. Novel treatments are needed to advance substantially
the care of CKD patients. In this regard, it is known that renal nerve activity is increased in CKD
and can lead to downstream effects including hypertension, reduced function, proteinuria, and
kidney disease progression. Renal denervation has been shown to protect against these effects
but most clinical trials only include hypertensive-CKD patients or exclude advanced CKD
patients entirely. Therefore, it is not known exactly which types of CKD can be effectively
treated with renal denervation. Furthermore, the relative contributions of renal sensory afferent
and sympathetic efferent nerves are not known. We hypothesize that CKD-related increases
in renal inflammation activates renal sensory nerves, leading in turn to increased efferent
nerve activity to worsen renal function, CKD progression and hypertension. Our proposal
will analyze the activity of renal nerves during various forms of CKD in mice and whether
denervation impacts disease progression. We will also search for the mediators of renal nerve
activation during CKD. These novel insights would provide the rationale to broaden denervation
studies to CKD patients and to understand more fully the role of renal nerves in the
pathogenesis of CKD.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10829908
- **Project number:** 5R01DK131991-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Roderick Jason Tan
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $509,655
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-06-01 → 2027-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10829908

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10829908, Effect of Renal Nerves on Chronic Kidney Disease (5R01DK131991-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10829908. Licensed CC0.

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