THE FIFTY-ONE-YEAR TRAJECTORY OF RESEARCH ON INFLAMMATORY CELLS AND ACUTE TUBULAR INJURY/NUCLEATED CELLS IN THE VASA RECTA HAS AN UNEXPECTED CONSEQUENCE: EXPLAINING FOUNDER'S HEALTHY LONGEVITY

Introduction:

The first author (FA) began his interest in inflammatory cells and acute tubular injury (ATI) in 1973, and last author (LA) in 1988, https://rabbkidneyresearchlab.jhmi.edu/people/hamid-rabb-m-d/ but for 13 years they were like ships passing in the night pursuing the same intellectual waters, but unaware of each other. 

Methods:

Lorraine Racusen, FA’s cofounder of the Banff Classification, was on an NIH study section reviewing one of LA’s grants and was convinced he should move to a research center like John Hopkins. She contacted him to suggest that he move to Hopkins, and he did just that in 2001. 

Results:

Shortly afterward, she told him about FA’s two 1974 (PMID: 4421857) and 1979 (PMID: 481195) papers on nucleated cells on the vasa recta of the renal medulla written while FA was at Johns Hopkins. These two papers immediately spoke to him as they were directly related to his work.  On June 1st, 2024, FA and LA had a short, very animated conversation at the American Transplant Congress in Philadelphia, and the two diversified teams are looking forward to working together in the future. 

Conclusions:

We feel great things will come from this! Meanwhile, LA also had a microbiome-related "cross-contamination" explanation for FA's healthy longevity at age 78 (pain-free and on no meds, with normal blood pressure and bone density, and an estimated GFR of 63) that may turn out to be correct since FA has surrounded himself with the young people he was training these past 51 years. Who da thunk it!

I have no potential conflict of interest to disclose.

I did not use generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process.