Danish researchers have found that kidney damage after injury can spread to unaffected areas in mice, providing new insights to improve treatment.

Using imaging, the team at Aarhus University looked at the same areas of the kidneys of mice with necrotic injury – where the cells in the tissue die – over a period of three weeks. This revealed that cell damage spreads to a larger area of the kidney (that was not injured) several days after the immediate injury, and caused further damage in those areas.

Sudden kidney damage, or injury, increases the risk of chronic kidney disease, so a better understanding of the role of kidney injury in the development of disease may help with interventions.

Lead author Ina Maria Schiessl said: “This suggests a previously unknown time window for intervention measures to limit further injury and disease progression in the kidneys.”