High Water Intake and Progression of Chronic Kidney Diseases

Impact of water intake on the courses of chronic kidney and urinary tract diseases, such as urolithiasis, urinary tract infections, chronic kidney diseases (CKD), autosomal dominant polycystic kidney diseases and bladder cancer, has recently been studied. It still remains controversial whether increased water intake slows the progression of CKD or not. However, high water intake suppresses plasma levels of arginine vasopressin (AVP), which is expected to be beneficial for the preservation of the kidney function. Previous studies suggest that water intake suppresses plasma levels of AVP, and high levels of AVP have been suggested to play deleterious roles in animal models of kidney disease. Moreover, recent epidemic of CKD of unknown origin, which was supposed to be related to the insufficient water intake and chronic volume depletion, has been reported in Central America, further suggesting that the suppression of AVP by sustained water intake might be beneficial in this CKD population. Indeed, the data from recent studies were consistent with the view that high water intake is associated with slower progression of CKD. However, contradictory findings also exist. The intriguing effects of increased urine volume in preserving the glomerular filtration rate in human patients with CKD require more large and well-designed randomized prospective clinical trials.