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New insight could lead to methods to prevent acute kidney injury in individuals undergoing cardiovascular surgery or other hospital procedures
Highlights• Researchers have identified genetic markers that may help to identify individuals at risk for acute kidney injury (AKI) in the hospital setting. • Presented at ASN Kidney Week 2014 in Philadelphia, PA, the study offers new clues about the development of AKI and could lead to potential therapeutic interventions.
Acute kidney injury affects 1 in 5 hospitalized patients worldwide
Newswise — Philadelphia, PA (November 25, 2014) — Researchers have identified several genetic markers that could help identify individuals at risk for developing acute kidney injury (AKI) in the hospital setting, according to new research presented at ASN Kidney Week 2014. Utilizing new genetic analysis techniques, scientists pinpointed several markers associated with AKI—an increasingly prevalent surgical and hospital complication.
Collaborators from Yale University, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Western Ontario wanted to determine if they could identify patients who may have a higher genetic risk for develop AKI in the hospital. “This may uncover novel pathways to target for therapeutic interventions,” said senior author Chirag R. Parikh, MD, PhD, FASN of Yale.
Until recently, analysis methods limited the scope of genetic AKI studies. “But technological progress in genotyping has opened the possibilities towards hypothesis-generating genomic screens and novel opportunities to explore polygenetic perspectives, now spanning a wide array of possible analyses falling under the term Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS),” said Dr. Parikh.
Using GWAS methods, the investigators analyzed data from patients at risk for AKI in the hospital setting—760 adults with AKI and 669 controls who underwent surgery or received care in the ICU—to determine if any single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were linked to AKI development. They identified 6 clusters of 3 or more SNPs on 6 different chromosomes that are associated with a patient’s risk of developing AKI.
“AKI is heterogenous disease and genetic studies need to be continued to fully capture the host risk,” Dr. Parikh emphasized. “It is recommended that sequencing can be used as a complement to GWAS, to obtain a better map of the genetic variants in GWAS-significant genes or well-established candidate genes.”
This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health NIH R01HL085757 and P30 DK079310 O'Brien Kidney Center Grant.
Study: “A Genome-Wide Association Study to Identify Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms Conferring Risk for Acute Kidney Injury” (Abstract TH-OR028)
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ASN Kidney Week 2014, the largest nephrology meeting of its kind, will provide a forum for more than 13,000 professionals to discuss the latest findings in kidney health research and engage in educational sessions related to advances in the care of patients with kidney and related disorders. ASN Kidney Week 2014 will take place November 11–16, 2014, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA.
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Founded in 1966, and with nearly 15,000 members, the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) leads the fight against kidney disease by educating health professionals, sharing new knowledge, advancing research, and advocating the highest quality care for patients.
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