March is National Kidney Month, a full month dedicated to raising awareness about kidney disease.

There are two kinds of kidney disease; Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and Acute Kidney Injury (AKI).

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) affects 3 million people in the UK¹. Chronic Kidney is defined as a condition that causes damage and stress on the kidneys, therefore decreasing the ability to keep your body healthy.

The kidneys play a vital role of removing any waste and extra water from the blood to form urine. The kidneys also make hormones that help control your blood pressure, make red blood cells, and keep your bones strong and healthy.²

It is crucial to look after your kidneys. If kidney disease gets worse, the excess waste can build to high levels in your blood, resulting in complications such as high blood pressure, anemia, weak bones, poor nutritional health and nerve damage, as well as increasing the risk of developing heart and blood vessel disease.

Chronic Kidney Disease if often caused by diabetes or having a high blood pressure, which can both be prevented by early detection and treatment. Without treatment the kidney disease will worsen resulting in kidney failure which requires dialysis or a kidney transplant to maintain life.

Chronic Kidney Disease I:

• Fatty Acid Binding Protein I – FABPI
• Soluble Tumour Necrosis Factor Receptor I – sTNFR I
• Soluble Tumour Necrosis Factor Receptor II – sTNFR II
• Macrophage Inflammatory Protein Iα – MIP-Iα
• Interleukin-8 – IL-8
• Epidermal Growth Factor – EGF
• D-Dimer

Chronic Kidney Disease II:

• Complement C3a Des Arginine – C3a des Arg
• C-Reactive Protein – CRP
• Neutrophil Gelatinase Associated Lipocalin – NGAL
• Cystatin C

Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) is when your kidneys stop working properly. This is caused by reduced blood flow to the kidneys, which often happens as a complication of another serious disease.³ AKI affects one in five people admitted to hospital as an emergency, and is considered deadlier than a heart attack ².

AKI can be reversible if found and treated quickly. Therefore, it is important, if someone has signs of having AKI, to get it treated promptly. Abnormal levels of salt and chemicals can build up in our bodies which causes organs to fail, resulting in the need for dialysis, or can even cause death. ³

• Osteopontin – OPN
• Serum creatinine – Creatinine
• Serum cystatin-C – Cystatin-C
• Kidney injury Molecule-I – KIM-I
• Urinary neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin – NGAL

The Evidence Series of Immunoassay analysers contains four revolutionary Biochip Array Technology platforms including the Evidence, Evolution, MultiSTAT and the Investigator.

Randox’s renal panel is available on our Evidence Investigator Immunoassay Analyser, which is a multiplex testing platform allowing for the simultaneous quantitative or qualitative detection of a wide range of analytes from a single sample. It provides a unique platform for assessment of biological samples in a rapid, accurate and easy-to-use format.

For more information on any of the Evidence Series analysers, please visit https://www.randoxbiosciences.com/  or contact us at info@randoxbiosciences.com

1. https://www.kidneycareuk.org/news-and-campaigns/facts-and-stats/
2. https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/kidney-disease/kidneys-how-they-work
3. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/acute-kidney-injury/