MICA: Investigating the role of myeloperoxidase as a key mediator of renal damage in crescentic glomerulonephritis and reno-cardiac disease

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We believe that a protein used by white blood cells to defend against microbes, called myeloperoxidase, appears to be the critical mediator in causing kidney damage in various conditions, such as vasculitis and lupus that can affect the kidneys, and is also involved in promoting accelerated furring of the arteries, that can lead to significant heart disease in patients with autoimmune diseases such as vasculitis and lupus. Interestingly, myeloperoxidase can be inhibited, apparently without ill effect. We wish to test if it is a viable drug target, by investigating whether myleoperoxidase blockers could be used to protect the kidney from damage in various disorders which lead to kidney inflammation and result in kidney failure and whether, because of its diverse roles in causing arterial damage, they may also protect from the accelerated heart disease that can be found in such patients.