What is the cause of Adult Polycystic Kidney Disease?
Adult PCKD is caused by a mistake in the DNA, the code which determines the nature of all tissues in the body. Larger sections of DNA are called genes, so PCKD is called a genetic condition. There are several genetic abnormalities that can lead to PCKD. This makes it difficult to perform genetic testing to diagnose PCKD and may also be one of the explanations for the different outcomes in people with PCKD. In PCKD, the commonest genetic abnormality is in the gene that codes for a protein that is called polycystin. This affects the function of tiny hair-like structures on the surface of many cells in the body, including the kidney.
