What is Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD)?

Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) is a kind of genetic kidney disease and it can be divided into two kinds, Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) and Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease (ARPKD). Normally, Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) is more common and Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease (ARPKD) which is caused by gene mutation is rarely seen. This article also mainly puts attention on Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD)
ADPKD follows the rule of dominant inheritance, which means if one of parents has this disease, each of their children will also get the disease at the rate of 50%, and this rate will increase to 75% if both parents have this disease.
Due to gene problem, renal tubular epithelial cells turn to cyst wall epithelial cells after Phenotype change, and then cyst wall epithelial cells begin to have the function of secreting cyst fluid. As a result, various sized cysts will form and keep enlarging continuously. With cysts enlarging, they will produce more pressure on surrounding kidney tissue, which can affect the micro-blood circulation in kidneys firstly. What’s more, the kidney function of adjusting blood pressure will also be affected. Due to these two aspects, high blood pressure always happens as the first symptom of polycystic kidney disease, and when high blood pressure happen, we say polycystic kidney disease attacks.
With the disease progress further, the pressure on surrounding kidney tissue becomes too large, and the damage on surrounding kidney is inevitable. If no method is taken, the damage will progress further because cysts are enlarging further. Finally, the disease will get into end stage which is renal failure or even end stage renal failure. At this moment, dialysis or kidney transplant will be offered by their doctors.