Detection of diabetic nephropathy before it occurs

Detection of diabetic nephropathy before it occurs

Kidney disease is a common, irreversible complication of diabetes. Researchers have developed an algorithm that uses genetic markers to predict whether a patient with type 2 diabetes will develop kidney disease years in advance, which could provide a way to diagnose and treat this preventable condition in real time. Early, according to what was published by the New Atlas website, quoting the journal Nature Communications.

According to the World Health Organization, the number of people with type 2 diabetes globally increased from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014. A common complication of diabetes is kidney disease, also known as diabetic nephropathy.

An important clinical need

Over time, high blood sugar levels in people with diabetes damage the fine filtering units in the kidneys, causing them to not work as effectively to remove waste from the blood and return clean blood to the circulation. It is not treatable damage that eventually leads to kidney failure, which requires dialysis or a kidney transplant.

Researchers from the University of Hong Kong, in collaboration with scientists from the US-based non-profit medical research institute Sanford Burnham Prebys, have developed an algorithm that can predict whether a person with type 2 diabetes will develop kidney disease.

In addition, researcher Ronald Ma said, “There is great progress in developing treatments for kidney disease in diabetic patients. However, it can be difficult to assess a patient's risk of developing kidney disease based on clinical factors alone, so identifying those most at risk of developing diabetic kidney disease is an important clinical need.”

DNA methylation

The researchers used DNA methylation, a biological process where methyl groups are added to a DNA molecule, which is one way cells can control which genes are active at any time and can be easily measured with a blood test.

epigenetic indication

DNA methylation is an inherited (genetic) change associated with cancer and other diseases, such as cardiovascular disease. There have been previous attempts to identify a biomarker that can predict diabetic kidney disease. While genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have had some success in identifying genetic markers of type 2 diabetes, epigenetic markers such as methylation are thought to provide a way to capture the interaction between genetic and environmental factors.

different population groups

The researchers used DNA methylation as a marker to teach their computational model to predict kidney function, using data from 1271 patients with type 2 diabetes in the Hong Kong Diabetes Registry. The researchers also tested the model on a separate group of 326 Americans with type 2 diabetes, with the goal of verifying that the model could predict kidney disease in different populations.

for years to come

“The algorithm can use methylation markers from a blood sample to predict both current kidney function and how the kidneys will function years into the future, which means it can be easily implemented alongside existing methods to assess a patient’s risk of disease,” said Kevin Yip, a co-author of the study. kidneys.”

While the researchers are working on improving the algorithm, they plan to expand it to other data that could enhance its ability to predict other diabetes-related health outcomes.

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