Epigenetics and Nephrology

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a risk factor for chronic kidney disease and death. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has become a serious public health problem because of its associated morbidity, mortality, and health care costs. Despite progress made in understanding the cellular and molecular basis of kidney diseases pathogenesis there has been no improvement in the high mortality rate from these diseases. Epigenetics is one of the most intensively studied fields of biology today and represents a new approach for understanding the pathophysiology of diseases. Epigenetics refers to functionally relevant modifications of the genome that do not involve a change in the nucleotide sequence. These modifications include acetylation, methylation, ubiquitylation, phosphorylation. These modifications serve to regulate gene expression without altering the underlying DNA sequence. Nutrient availability and other environmental factors cause changes in the epigenome. In chronic kidney disease (CKD), several features of uraemia, such as inflammation, may contribute to changes in epigenetic gene regulation. This review summarizes recent research and the current status of epigenetic risk factors influencing AKI and CKD.