The role of IL-18 in proliferative and crescentic glomerulonephritis

Funding Activity

Website
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/124339

Funding Status
Closed

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Funded Activity Summary

Inflammation of the small filters with the kidneys, known as glomerulonephritis, is the commonest cause of kidney failure in Australia. People whose kidneys have failed need either kidney dialysis or a kidney transplant. Our understanding of the immune events that cause glomerulonephritis is patchy. However, it is known that T cells are the directors of immune responses in the body and direct the immune response in glomerulonephritis. Chemical messengers known as cytokines direct the way T cells behave. One of these cytokines, known as interleukin-18, has been shown to stimulate T cells and other immune cells to induce inflammation that is helpful when the body is fighting infection but is harmful in immune diseases. This project will determine the role of interleukin-18 in glomerulonephritis by studying the way it talks to T cells and the mechanisms by which it incites inflammation in the kidney. Mice with glomerulonephritis will be treated by blocking the actions of interleukin-18 to discover whether interleukin-18 produced by the animal is important in kidney damage induced by glomerulonephritis, to understand the way in which this cytokine works and to assess whether blocking interleukin-18 could be a useful treatment for glomerulonephritis in humans. Current treatments for glomerulonephritis are often ineffective and have unwanted side effects. Knowledge of the way interleukin-18 participates in the immune response in glomerulonephritis may lead directly or indirectly to more effective and more targeted treatments for different forms of glomerulonephritis.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2000

End Date: 01-01-2000

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $56,177.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Nephrology And Urology

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

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Other Keywords

T-lymphocytes | Th1 cells | glomerulonephritis | immunologic diseases | interleukins | kidney diseases | kidney failure

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