Researchers from Yale University and Columbia University recently published an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggesting that triptolide, a component of a traditional Chinese medicine (Lei Gong Teng), may one day help treat patients with polycystic kidney disease (PKD). Using a mouse model for the most common form of PKD, autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease or ADPKD, they showed that triptolide helped stop the growth of out-of-control kidney cells and decrease the formation of cysts. Although this is exciting research, it is very, very preliminary. Encouraging results in a mouse model is a long way from being a commercially available drug.
Triptolide is one of the active components of the Chinese medicine derived from the vine-like plant Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (TWHF). TWHF is indigenous to large regions in southern China and has been used for thousands of years in part because of its ability to suppress the immune system and inflammation. Extracts from TWHH are now being looked at for the treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. However, because TWHF is potentially very toxic, any medication derived from it would have to go through a rigorous testing process before being made available to patients.
Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is caused by a mutation in one of the two genes that cause kidney tubule cells to stop growing. As a result, they continue to grow and fill the kidney with non-functional and fluid-filled cysts.
