Diabetes and kidney disease: progress in 2024
From research on the lab bench, to workshops with the diabetes community, progress is being made to prevent the progression from diabetes to kidney disease. We’re delighted to share an update from the our multiple health conditions programme team on research developments in diabetes and kidney disease.
The link between diabetes and kidney disease
- High glucose (sugar) levels in the blood can damage the delicate filtering system in the kidneys leading to the development and progression of kidney disease.
- When the kidneys are not functioning properly, protein is able to pass through and is found in the urine. The presence of protein in urine, known as proteinuria, can be used to detect and measure kidney damage
- Diabetes is the most common cause of kidney failure, with approximately 1 in 3 diabetes patients developing kidney disease and numbers are expected to rise.
What’s been happening?
2024 has been an exciting year for diabetes research, with new studies from our researchers increasing our understanding of the link between diabetes and kidney disease and new treatment options in development. We have also been building a community dedicated to multiple health conditions, creating opportunities for patients, researchers and clinicians to share experiences and knowledge.
Journal articles
Zoe and Swati from the multiple health conditions team have published an article in the Diabetes and Primary Care journal highlighting the importance of healthcare professional working in primary care in achieving early diagnosis and management of chronic kidney disease. The article collated useful resources available to both HCPs and patients at risk of kidney disease (such as those with diabetes) and showcased the support charities can offer.
Driving Discoveries
We held our annual Driving Discoveries event in September 2024, bringing together researchers, healthcare professionals and patients to celebrate the latest research updates and future research aspirations.
Dr Abigail Lay presented her work on how the biology of the kidney changes with diabetic kidney disease, specifically looking at DNA methylation (a change to the gene which can turn it on or off). She hopes this work to help us understand which people are at risk of developing diabetic kidney disease, and potentially identify new ways to target this process.
Published research
New research has been published by the Kidney Research UK funded team at Bristol University in diabetes. Professor Simon Satchell, Dr Rebecca Foster and the team studied the hormone adiponectin which acts on the glycocalyx layer (made of sugars and proteins) of blood vessels in the kidneys. For the first time, adiponectin was shown to both reduce glycocalyx damage and restore its depth. This has potentially promising results for preventing damage to the kidneys caused by diabetes. Read the research paper.
Working in partnership
We teamed up with charity partners Diabetes UK and Breakthrough T1D (formally JDRF) to run a research workshop to help build a community of diabetes and kidney disease patients, researchers and health care professionals. The goal of this project was to better understand the needs and experiences of patients suffering from multiple health conditions. The publication of this work will help to inform researchers on the areas to explore in disease prevention, detection and management to improve patient lives.
Watch this video shared by patient Angela at the diabetes workshop on the harsh reality of being a dialysis patient.
“Having an opportunity to share my experience directly with professionals involved in supporting those with diabetes, to explain how overwhelming the information available can be, and seeing how I was being listened to in the room, made me feel really positive about the event… My hope is that sharing my experiences and my own research into medications will lead to a more tailored approach for others in the future.” Quote from patient who attended the workshop.
New research
A review of the role of senescent in the progression of diabetic kidney disease was also conducted by Paige Phillips and the team at University of Lincoln. Understanding the communication pathways between these senescent cells highlighted how this process could be targeted to delay their build-up, which contributes to the progression of diabetic kidney disease. Read the research paper.
Research into a new model of care to help prevent diabetes patients from developing or worsening of kidney failure was carried out by Dr Hellena Habte-Asres from the Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care at King's College London and the Royal Free Hospital in London. This work explored patient-based care, involving the management of multiple conditions including diabetes and kidney disease (rather than looking at one condition alone). This approach helped increase the numbers of patients who have access to newer medications and support to help manage their multiple health conditions.
Research results
Exciting results from the FLOW clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine has suggested that a class of drugs called GLP-1 agonists, previously used to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes, are also useful for treating patients with kidney disease and associated cardiovascular disease to slow loss of kidney function. More research will confirm which patients will benefit the most from these drugs and when they should be prescribed.
Looking to the future
Building on the success of the research and events so far, we need to ensure research into kidney disease alongside other conditions (including diabetes and cardiovascular disease) remains a priority. Our aim to support this goal by engaging with healthcare professionals, researchers and patients.
Call to action for researchers and healthcare teams
We welcome applications into areas relating to kidney disease and multiple long-term health conditions, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease, in our grant rounds.
We are keen to collaborate with others including clinicians, researchers, patients and the wider research community to help facilitate improvements in management of multiple diseases to improve patient lives. We are also working to improve healthcare access for all patients, especially those most at risk of developing kidney disease, and therefore welcome applications addressing health inequalities in relation to multiple health conditions.
We call on all healthcare professionals to help us with promoting the importance of urine ACR testing (for earlier detection of kidney disease) for all patients at risk of kidney disease as well as the associated progression and complications.
