Scientists from Skoltech and Sechenov University have developed a new method for diagnosing chronic kidney disease in its early stages.
This method analyzes protein content in urine to detect pathologies and their severity, potentially replacing the need for an invasive biopsy. This study was published in the journal Molecules.
About the Method
Chronic kidney disease involves the gradual loss of kidney function and can lead to the patient requiring a kidney transplant or dialysis.
Normally, healthy kidneys filter blood and retain proteins, with only a small fraction ending up in the urine. However, when the kidneys are impaired, the protein concentration in the urine increases significantly.
Traditionally, to determine the type and severity of kidney disease, doctors require a tissue sample taken via a painful biopsy.
However, the scientists is developing a test system that could differentiate between various types of kidney disease and their stages based on a urine sample.
The researchers identified specific proteins and their concentrations in urine characteristics for each of the three diseases by analyzing samples from late-stage patients with the respective diagnoses and a control group of healthy individuals.
The Impact
This method provides a non-invasive way to diagnose kidney disease, and the researchers believe that it has the potential to be expanded to include more specific urine proteins and be used to analyze samples from patients with other types of kidney pathologies.
The study’s first author, Senior Research Scientist Alexey Kononikhin of Skoltech Bio, stated, “There aren’t that many studies of this kind… Ours and those two studies complement each other well.”
The Future
The researchers plan to expand this project, including more specific urine proteins and analyzing samples from patients with other types of kidney pathologies, with the aim of creating a more accurate test for diagnosing kidney diseases.
If you care about kidney health, please read studies about drug that prevents kidney failure in diabetes, and drinking coffee could help reduce risk of kidney injury.
For more information about kidney health, please see recent studies about foods that may prevent recurrence of kidney stones, and common painkillers may harm heart, kidneys and more.
The study was published in Molecules.
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