Proteomics International Laboratories Ltd (ASX: PIQ) has received promising results of a study demonstrating the potential ability of the PromarkerD test to predict late-stage renal decline.
PromarkerD is already a proven diagnostic test for diabetic kidney disease, predicting the onset of the condition up to four years in advance. This study extends the potential use of PromarkerD to predict a further decline in renal function among people who already have kidney disease.
The results have been presented at the American Diabetes Association’s 82nd Scientific Sessions.
The finding comes from analysis of the completed Canagliflozin cardiovascular Assessment Study (CANVAS), as part of the ongoing collaboration between Proteomics International and Janssen Research & Development, LLC.
Proteomics International managing director Dr Richard Lipscombe said this research is preliminary but shows PromarkerD has the potential to warn of late-stage outcomes, such as progression to macroalbuminuria1, in patients both with and without existing kidney damage. Macroalbuminuria is widely considered a measure of severe kidney disease. Once a patient is defined as having macroalbuminuria, the patient, in the absence of renal protective treatments, can quickly progress to dialysis and end stage renal failure.
This exploratory data is promising and indicates the use of PromarkerD may be expanded to include people with existing kidney disease. However, the current PromarkerD algorithm has been optimised for the prediction of early onset of DKD and the test algorithm would need further optimisation for this new use. The results also suggested further studies were warranted to explore whether PromarkerD could predict additional cardiovascular outcomes, such as heart failure and stroke,” Managing Director, Dr Richard Lipscombe, said.
The study was based on a post-hoc analysis of 3,525 people with type 2 diabetes, followed for three years in the completed CANVAS trial. The key findings were that moderate and high-risk PromarkerD scores were increasingly prognostic for adverse renal and cardio outcomes (versus low-risk scores), and PromarkerD remained a significant independent predictor of late-stage outcomes even after adjusting for other clinical risk factors, including existing kidney function, age, diabetes duration, and blood pressure.