In pursuit of novel therapies based on an understanding of renal growth

Abstract

Kidneys first grow during embryogenesis, in concert with an increase of nephron number during the differentiation of metanephric blastema.1,2 A second growth period, manifested as an increase in size and function of a fixed number of nephrons, accompanies the maturation of body size during childhood and adolescence. On the basis of body size, adult levels of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) are reached in humans during early childhood.3 In addition, nephron hypertrophy compensates for the reduction in nephron number that occurs during the progression of renal diseases.