Henricus Mutsaers
Trimming the fat - targeting fatty liver disease to prevent chronic kidney failure
Henricus Mutsaers, assistant professor at the Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University (AU), has received a Fellowship from the Lundbeck Foundation totalling DKK 10 million.
The research grant, to be paid out over a period of five years, enables Henricus Mutsaers to establish his own research group at AU.
Together with his team, Henricus Mutsaers, age 37, will conduct research into chronic kidney disease – which can ultimately lead to a life-threatening condition known as end-stage renal failure. Chronic kidney disease is increasing in prevalence on a global scale, and around 2.6 million deaths a year are attributable to impaired kidney function.
Henricus Mutsaers intends to study an aspect of chronic kidney disease that is connected to an entirely different disease:
Adults with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease appear to be twice as likely to have chronic kidney disease compared to the general population. Why this is the case remains a mystery. This is one of the questions Henricus Mutsaers seeks to find an answer to. He also intends to study whether – and how – the accumulation of bile acids, often seen in people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, contribute to the loss of kidney function.
The hope is that new understanding in this field can help both to prevent and improve the treatment of chronic kidney disease.
