A Step Forward: Inhibiting APOL1 (Gene) to Treat Kidney Disease
By V. Scantlebury, MD, FACS, DPC Education Center Healthcare Consultant A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine by Egbuna and colleagues (1) reported that in a small study, patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) who are homozygous for the variants in the gene encoding apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1) when treated with the drug Inaxaplin, (which inhibits APOL1 function) demonstrated significantly reduced protein excretion. Inaxaplin is the first investigational therapy that is directed at treating APOL1-mediated kidney disease. Why is this significant? There is a disproportionate burden of chronic kidney disease in persons of African ancestry. FSGS and other [...]