Marker of Kidney Failure Found

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) may be in luck. According to two newstudies in the August Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, a molecular marker of blood vessel damage may help to predict further loss of kidney function.

The molecular marker is called asymmetric dimethylarginine, or ADMA, and was measured in relatively young patients with CKD unrelated to diabetes. Patients with lower kidney function at the beginning of the study had higher ADMA levels. Those with higher ADMA levels were more likely to have progressive kidney disease (lose kidney function and need dialysis) and took less time to develop progressive disease than those with lower levels. A similar relationship between ADMA and disease progression was found in a later study of elderly patients.

High ADMA levels are also linked to blood-vessel damage in other diseases. If further studies show that ADMA is a cause of progressive kidney failure rather than just a risk marker, treatments to lower ADMA levels may help prevent the long-term consequences of chronic kidney disease (PRNewswire).