Like many who practice nephrology I see many patients with ADPKD. Near the end of the visit, a patient will often ask - "what new treatments are on the horizon".
Our discussion then centers around the promising data from TEMPO. I tell my patients that tolvaptan is not approved for treating ADPKD, but that patients could try to simulate the effects of tolvaptan by drinking lots of water in an attempt to suppress the V2 receptor.
Patients ask about other potential therapies on the fringe. Recently, someone asked me about the effect of grapefruit. Presumably, this was in reference to an October 13 2013 article in Nephrology News and Issues on the effects of naringenin on blocking PKD2 in an in vitro system.
Naringenin is a a flavanone, that is found in citrus fluids including oranges and grapefruit, as well as in tomatoes. Grapefruit has a much higher concentration of naringenin than orange juice. Wikipedia has a nice review of naringenin that is worth reading.
A cautionary note around recommending naringenin is that citrus fruits are rich in potassium. 100 grams of grapefruit contain 135 to 148 mg of potassium and a similar weight (100 grams) of an orange has 181 mg of potassium.
Our discussion then centers around the promising data from TEMPO. I tell my patients that tolvaptan is not approved for treating ADPKD, but that patients could try to simulate the effects of tolvaptan by drinking lots of water in an attempt to suppress the V2 receptor.
Patients ask about other potential therapies on the fringe. Recently, someone asked me about the effect of grapefruit. Presumably, this was in reference to an October 13 2013 article in Nephrology News and Issues on the effects of naringenin on blocking PKD2 in an in vitro system.
Naringenin is a a flavanone, that is found in citrus fluids including oranges and grapefruit, as well as in tomatoes. Grapefruit has a much higher concentration of naringenin than orange juice. Wikipedia has a nice review of naringenin that is worth reading.
A cautionary note around recommending naringenin is that citrus fruits are rich in potassium. 100 grams of grapefruit contain 135 to 148 mg of potassium and a similar weight (100 grams) of an orange has 181 mg of potassium.
