Date: Wednesday, September 17, 2025, 3:00-4:00PM ET
The brain kidney axis in health and disease
Presenter: John W.Osborn, PhD
Professor, Department of Surgery, Director, Division of Autonomic Neuromodulation, Director, Minnesota Consortium for Autonomic Neuromodulation, University of Minnesota Medical School
About the Seminar
Catheter based renal denervation has recently been FDA approved for the treatment of hypertension. Traditionally, the anti-hypertensive effects of renal denervation have been attributed to the ablation of the efferent sympathetic renal nerves. In recent years the role of the afferent sensory renal nerves in the regulation of blood pressure has received increased attention. Preclinical studies have shown that selective ablation of the afferent renal nerves can prevent and mitigate the development of hypertension to a similar extent as total renal denervation, which also destroys the efferent nerves. In addition, afferent renal denervation is associated with reductions in sympathetic nervous system activity. This suggests that reductions in sympathetic drive to organs other than the kidney may contribute to the non-renal beneficial effects observed in clinical trials of catheter based renal denervation. In this seminar I will provide an overview of the role of the afferent renal nerves in the regulation of renal function and the development of pathophysiologies, both renal and non-renal. I will also describe the central projections of the afferent renal nerves, to give context to the responses seen following their ablation and activation. Finally, I will discuss the role of the kidney as an interoceptive organ.
The video is now available on the SPARC YouTube Channel.
| Research | Contributions |
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REVEAL - Research Evaluating Vagal Excitation and Anatomical Links Project Link |
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Periglomerular afferent innervation of the mouse renal cortex. Read the Paper |
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Renal interoception in health and disease Read the Paper |
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Removing interoceptive input from the kidney to the brain reduces salt appetite in DOCA hypertensive rats Read the Paper |
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IL-1R Mediated Activation of Renal Sensory Nerves in DOCA-Salt Hypertension Read the Paper |
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Resting Afferent Renal Nerve Discharge and Renal Inflammation Read the Paper |
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Renal nerves in physiology, pathophysiology and interoception Read the Paper |
