CKD, Genetic Variation, and the Epigenome: Decrypting the Code

Mechanisms responsible for common chronic kidney diseases (CKDs) remain poorly understood. Despite optimal management, outcomes of patients with CKD remain suboptimal. Genetic determinants associated with disease phenotypes can point to causal pathways, and genetic variants have been robustly and reproducibly identified in large CKD cohorts.1,2 However, like many complex human diseases, the biology driven by the genetic architecture associated with CKD has yet to be discovered. Nongenetic variation, including epigenetic factors, can silence or enhance gene expression patterns initiated by transcription of DNA and that influence health or disease pathogenesis.

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