New Test Developed To Identify Risk Of End-Stage Renal Disease In Diabetics, Study Shows

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Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes can lead to serious complications, including chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Fortunately, researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center developed a new test in identifying patients who are at risk of these conditions.

According to Medical Xpress, the albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR) and the estimated glomerular filtration rate were used previously in diagnosing kidney failure. Physicians depend on these two standard biomarker tests most of the time in determining diabetic patients who may develop the condition.

The ACR and the estimated glomerular filtration rate results were also the basis of doctors in choosing patients for clinical trials. However, these tests failed to diagnose many patients who are at risk of end-stage renal disease as per the researchers.

"Overall efficiency and cost-effectiveness of clinical trials depends on the diagnostic tools used to enroll study patients," Andrzej S. Krolewski, M.D., Ph.D., Head, Section on Genetics & Epidemiology at Joslin Diabetes Center and lead author of the study said. "If you recruit people who are not at risk of progressing to ESRD during the clinical trial period, statistical power declines and you can't prove anything."

In 2012, Krolewski and his colleagues found a new potential test in identifying the risk of end-stage renal disease. The team discovered an association between tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1) and weakening renal function in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetic.

According to Science Daily, the researchers then planned to develop an actual test doctors could utilize in providing proper care to people with an end-stage renal disease. Findings of the new test were published in the journal Kidney International. 

The researchers studied data of patients suffering from diabetes and late-stage CKD that were tracked between four and 15 years. The combination of ACR and the new test (TNFR1) identify more accurately who would possibly develop an end-stage renal disease, the study reveals.

The researchers found that the newly develop test combination is 72% sensitive in determining those at risk of end-stage renal disease. The test has also 81% accuracy in identifying patients who already had the condition within three years.