Kidney research, 2026-08-27
Exercise helps lower blood pressure in kidney disease, and breathing exercises may help before dialysis starts
Today's findings focus on practical interventions like exercise and breathing training, backed by stronger evidence. Many papers explore how obesity, diabetes drugs, and mineral imbalances affect the kidneys, but most are reviews or observational studies that show associations—not proof. A large study confirms that combining two common kidney tests strongly predicts death risk in older adults, helping doctors spot higher-risk patients earlier.
Redox-Mediated Mitochondrial Dysfunction as a Common Pathogenic Axis in Acute Kidney Injury and Chronic Kidney Disease.
This is a review article, not a new study, so it reports no results of its own. It pulls together lab research on how the energy-making parts of kidney cells (mitochondria) get...
Renal Effects of Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists in Diabetic Kidney Disease: A Narrative Review of Mechanisms and Clinical Evidence.
A review of GLP-1 drugs, the same family as Ozempic, for kidney disease caused by diabetes. It summarizes how these drugs act on blood sugar, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol,...
Glycemic Outcomes After Switching from SGLT2 Inhibitors to DPP-4 Inhibitors in Type 2 Diabetes, with a Comparison of Teneligliptin and Other Agents: A Retrospective Cohort Study.
Doctors looked back at records of people with type 2 diabetes who stopped SGLT2 inhibitors, often because of side effects, and switched to DPP-4 inhibitors. The study tracked blood...
Mechanisms of Obesity-Related Kidney Disease: From Adipose Depot Biology to the Chymase-Aldosterone and Ghrelin-Leptin Axes.
This review links extra fat tissue—especially around the belly—to kidney damage through inflammation and hormone changes, but it does not prove that losing fat will fix the...
Disease-modifying anti-diabetic drugs (DMADDs): bridging the SIMPLE approach to disease interception.
This review explains how diabetes drugs like SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 agonists help the heart and kidneys beyond lowering sugar, but it does not include new patient data—only...
Cinnamaldehyde Attenuates Hyperuricemia-Associated Renal Injury by Modulating Urate Transporters and AIF1- and CMPK2/NLRP3-Related Inflammatory Signaling.
Cinnamaldehyde, a compound from cinnamon, reduced kidney injury in rats and cells with high uric acid by blocking inflammatory pathways. This work is not yet tested in people, so...
Alpha-Mangostin in Acute Kidney Injury: Molecular Mechanisms, Regulated Cell Death, and Translational Opportunities.
This review describes how oxidative stress and cell death cause acute kidney injury in animals and cells, and how alpha-mangostin (from mangosteen fruit) may block those pathways....
Clinical Anterior Segment and Ocular Surface Findings Across Renal Replacement Modalities: Associations with CKD-Related Factors, Mineral Metabolism and Activin A.
This study found that people on dialysis had more eye surface problems than those with normal kidneys, and these issues were linked to mineral imbalances and high activin A levels....
Atrial Fibrillation and Documented Heart Failure in Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19: A Secondary Analysis of a Single-Centre Cohort from Western Romania.
This study found that among 395 people hospitalized with COVID-19, those with both atrial fibrillation and heart failure had worse outcomes—but since it is observational, it does...
Implementation of KDIGO CKD Screening and Its Prognostic Implications in Community-Dwelling Adults Aged 75 Years or Older: A Population-Based Cohort Study.
This study followed over 10,000 adults aged 75 or older and found that those with both low kidney filtering rate (eGFR) and protein in the urine had a much higher risk of dying...
Effects of Progressive Inspiratory Muscle Training on Lung Volume and Respiratory Strength in Patients With Pre-Dialysis Chronic Kidney Disease.
A randomized trial tested training the muscles you breathe with in people with stage 3 to 5 kidney disease who are not on dialysis. One group trained against rising resistance, up...
Dose-Response Effects of Different Exercise Modalities on Blood Pressure Control in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.
This pooled analysis combined many exercise trials in people with chronic kidney disease to ask how much exercise lowers blood pressure. It compared different kinds of exercise and...
Fruits, Vegetables, and Legumes: Harnessing the Gut-Kidney Axis in Hypertensive Chronic Kidney Disease.
A review asking when fruits, vegetables, and legumes are safe for adults who have both high blood pressure and kidney disease. About 80 to 85 percent of people with kidney disease...
Berberine-Drug Interactions: Mechanisms, Clinical Relevance and Risk Stratification-A Narrative Review.
A review of how berberine, a popular supplement sold as a natural weight-loss aid, interferes with prescription drugs. Older adults often take it without telling their doctor, and...
Finger-Ring Test and Low Muscle Mass in Older Adults with Chronic Kidney Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study.
In older adults with kidney disease, a simple finger-ring test (measuring calf size) was linked to low muscle mass and frailty, but the study cannot prove that small calves cause...
Research Progress and Critical Challenges of Bioartificial Kidneys in Renal Replacement Therapy for End-Stage Renal Disease.
A review of progress on bioartificial kidneys, which combine a filter with living kidney cells to do more of what a real kidney does. The case for them is simple: dialysis keeps...
Pediatric Kidney Transplantation: A Systematic Review.
This systematic review analyzed many studies on kidney transplants in children and found that while transplants give better survival and quality of life than dialysis, long-term...