Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with kidney disease including fibrosis. Some studies have even suggested that treatment with vitamin D or vitamin D analogs can reduce renal fibrosis; however, the pathways targeted by vitamin D therapy are not completely understood. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation , Junn Yanagisawa and colleagues at the University of Tsukuba found that vitamin D binding to its receptor inhibited the TGF-β/SMAD signaling pathway and prevented renal fibrosis in mice. The authors then generated a synthetic ligand of the vitamin D receptor that, like vitamin D, reduced renal fibrosis; however, unlike vitamin D, this synthetic ligand did not promote hypercalcemia. In the accompanying commentary Joseph Bonventre suggests that synthetic ligands of the vitamin D receptor should be further studied as therapeutics for patients with fibrotic diseases.
TITLE:
A nonclassical vitamin D receptor pathway suppresses renal fibrosis
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Junn Yanagisawa
University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, , JPN
Phone: 81-29-853-7320; E-mail: junny@agbi.tsukuba.ac.jp
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/67804?key=e9b75812c32074994393
ACCOMPANYING COMMENTARY
Antifibrotic vitamin D analogs
Joseph V. Bonventre
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Phone: 617-525-5966; Fax: 617-525-5965; E-mail: joseph_bonventre@hms.harvard.edu
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/72748?key=c9aa266738ffedbb76ab
Journal of Clinical Investigation