Doctors have identified several newer biomarkers that appear to predict the onset of a damaging, diabetes-related kidney complication.
MedPage Today reports on the finding by researchers at Medical University of South Carolina, and their work is published in detail in the journal Diabetes Care.
The team determined that higher levels of soluble E-selectin, interlukin 6, plasminogen activator inhibitor and sTNFR-1 and -2 in Type 1 diabetes patients can heighten their chance of getting macroalbuminuria, a condition where the protein albumin can leak into urine when the kidneys aren't working right. Patients with Type 1 diabetes are particularly vulnerable to it. Conversely, as MedPage Today notes, a big drop in soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 offered another biomarker indicator in affected patients.
Data from the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial formed the basis of the researchers' analysis.
Having new biomarkers to indicate the likely onset of macroalbumininuria would be crucial, because the condition can lead to kidney failure and cardiovascular disease. But as the Cleveland Clinic explains, treating diabetes or high blood pressure can reduce macroalbuminuria, and potentially halt its full advance to kidney disease and further medical problems. Even sooner intervention would give patients an even better shot at avoiding kidney failure and other related problems down the line. And while more work is needed, the researchers hope the new biomarkers they've discovered will allow for more reliable, early medical intervention to take place.
- read the full MedPage Today story
- here's the journal abstract