According to a new study published in the journal Nature Communications, sugar consumption plays a key role in the formation of fluid-filled cysts, which are a hallmark of polycystic kidney disease (PKD). These cysts in the kidney can grow large enough to impair kidney function and eventually cause the organs to fail, necessitating dialysis or transplantation.

In the study, the research team created a novel instrument for the investigation by fusing a kidney organoid with a microfluidic chip. This allowed nutrients such as water, sugar, and amino acids to pass through organoids that had been gene-edited to mimic PKD.

The findings of the study showed that the cells lining the PKD cyst walls in the chips were found to face outward as they grew and stretched, causing their tips to protrude from the cyst walls. Since these cells would be facing inward in living kidneys, the arrangement shows that cysts form by attracting fluid high in sugar rather than by secreting the fluid. 

(Source: https://theprint.in/health/sugar-causes-swelling-which-leads-to-common-kidney-disease-study/1304335/ )