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Predicting the future risk of chronic kidney disease in offspring of obese mothers with and without type 2 diabetes

Summary

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major health burden driven mostly by obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. 1/3 of diabetic patients are at risk of CKD progression for unknown reason. Symptoms of CKD are not evident until significant renal function is lost, when the condition become non curable mainly because renal biopsy is required for definitive diagnosis. The project will determine possible biomarkers for patients at risk of CKD progression using novel non-invasive diagnostic method.

Supervisors

Dr Sonia Saad, Professor Carol Pollock.

Research location

North Shore - Kolling Institute of Medical Research

Program type

Masters/PHD

Synopsis

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major health burden driven mostly by type 2 diabetes and obesity. CKD affects up to 1.7M Australians contributing to approximately 15% of hospitalisations nationally. The prevalence of end-stage kidney disease continues to increase and is not fully explained by traditional risk factors. It is unclear why only 1/3 of patients with diabetes develop CKD, and why the progression of CKD varies substantially from patient to patient, even among those with similar co-morbidities. Evidence suggests a strong link between intrauterine environment and disease programming.
Only 1/12 with kidney disease are aware they have the condition as symptoms and signs of CKD are not evident until significant renal function is lost mainly because a definitive diagnosis requires renal biopsy which can't be routinely performed in diabetic patients due to its invasive and costly nature. Hence novel biomarkers for early diagnosis or to identify patients at risk of CKD progression in a non-invasive method are needed.
We have recently demonstrated that maternal obesity is associated with increased oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in the offspring kidneys and signs of glomerular and tubulointerstitial injury which foreshadow the development of CKD. Our data also demonstrated increased renal injury in offspring from obese mothers exposed to type 2 diabetes (T2D). The current project aims to determine early diagnostic markers for CKD development in animals with T2D and predictive markers for future CKD progression in offspring born to obese mothers using a non-invasive method.

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Opportunity ID

The opportunity ID for this research opportunity is 2053

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