NURTuRE opens the door to personalised treatment for CKD patients
In a paper published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, Professor Maarten Taal and colleagues from the Universities of Nottingham, Manchester and Surrey share important new results from NURTuRE, revealing ways we can identify which individuals living with kidney disease are at greatest risk of rapidly losing their kidney function and the potential biological reasons for this.
The need for a personalised approach to kidney disease care
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) develops differently in each individual. This means that taking a personalised approach to care is important to improve patient experiences and outcomes. However, it is hard for healthcare professionals to predict how quickly kidney function will decrease, respond to different treatments or the likelihood of complications such as heart disease.
In recent years, there has been interest in whether changes that can be measured in the blood, urine or body tissues (known as ‘biomarkers’) of people living with CKD can help show which people are at highest risk to support this more precise approach, but more research is needed.
What are biomarkers?
A biomarker is something that we can measure in the body that gives us information about a disease. Biomarkers can help to diagnose conditions, monitor how well individuals respond to treatment and understand if a disease is cured.
By using the information and samples collected in the NURTuRE-CKD study, Professor Taal and colleagues were able to look at previously identified biomarkers, either alone or in combination, and find out how well they predicted CKD outcomes.
The team selected biomarkers that are known to be linked to different disease processes including inflammation, a type of tissue damage called fibrosis and cardiovascular disease.
Professor Taal added; “This type of research is only possible because of the generosity of the patients who have donated their healthcare data and biological samples to NURTuRE, allowing us to look for new patterns and trends in CKD in a way that was not possible in the past”.
About NURTuRE
NURTuRE is a unique resource for the kidney disease research community, accelerating the discovery of new treatments and diagnostic approaches through allowing approved researchers carefully controlled access to biological samples and healthcare data donated by approximately 3,000 patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and 740 with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS). A new collection in acute kidney injury (AKI) is in progress.
Results show promise for improving care and CKD knowledge
The research team studied information from 2,884 people living with non-dialysis CKD, with an average age of 63. They showed that combinations of three biomarkers were as good as current approaches at predicting disease progression to kidney failure or death.
Importantly, the results also suggest that biomarkers may be able to identify the processes that are causing CKD; this has the potential to help healthcare providers select the best treatment for each patient and support the development of new drugs in the future.
Professor Taal noted "Our work has shown that biomarkers can help us to understand how an individual’s CKD is likely to progress and also give us an indication of what disease processes are happening in their body to cause the loss of kidney function.
"It is my hope that in the future we will routinely use an approach like this to help ensure that each patient gets the best treatment for their condition. I also believe that this information can help us develop new treatments that target these processes.”
Elaine Davies, director of research operations at Kidney Research UK added “Increasing our understanding of CKD is crucial to improve outcomes for patients living with, or at risk of, CKD and a key aim of NURTuRE.
"This research takes us a step closer towards being able to personalise care based on what causes disease in each individual, clearly demonstrating the crucial role NURTuRE has in enabling vital new innovations in CKD diagnosis and care. We would like to congratulate everyone involved on this important piece of research.”
Enabling your research through NURTuRE
By bringing together consented, longitudinal healthcare data and biological samples, NURTuRE offers a unique insight into the natural history of kidney disease.
Our aim is to support studies designed to offer more precise and effective ways of managing renal conditions, with the ultimate goal of preventing kidney failure.
Researchers from academic and industry are now able to apply for access to NURTuRE.
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