Renal Function and Health
Your kidneys are vital for survival, they filter waste substances out of your blood and balance the levels of salts and water in our bodies. Your kidneys filter around 180 litres of blood every day, control the production of red blood cells and release hormones that regulate blood pressure – it’s little wonder, then, the importance placed on looking after such a vital organ.
Did you know?
Around 1 in 8 people in the UK will develop Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)
Kidney Disease can affect people of all ages and races, 10% of the population worldwide is affected by Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD.) Since Kidney Disease can sneak up without symptoms it has been labelled a silent killer, a person can lose up to 90% of their kidney function before experiencing any signs or symptoms.
As kidney disease gets worse, wastes can build up in your blood and make you feel sick. You may develop additional problems such as high blood pressure, anemia, weak bones, poor nutritional health and nerve damage. Kidney disease also increases your risk of developing heart or blood vessel disease. These problems often develop slowly and will often lead to kidney failure.
The two main causes of CKD are diabetes and high blood pressure, which are responsible for up to two-thirds of cases, other causes include inherited kidney diseases and malformations at birth.
How is Chronic Kidney Disease detected?
Early detection and treatment is crucial to keep kidney disease from developing into kidney failure, some simple tests can be carried out to detect early kidney disease. These are;
- A urine test to check if there is any protein present
- A blood test to measure levels of creatinine
The best treatment is early detection when CKD can be slowed or stopped, however once kidneys fail, treatment with dialysis or a kidney transplant is needed. 8 of 10 people on the transplant list are waiting for a kidney, the average wait for a new kidney is 3 years, and every day one kidney patient will die waiting for a transplant.
Reduce your risk of developing CKD
Your kidneys are vital to your overall health, so it’s important to look after them. There are 5 simple steps that can help you keep them in good shape;
- Stay hydrated
- Maintain a balanced diet and keep your weight in check
- Monitor your blood pressure
- Quit Smoking
- Limit your alcohol intake
Related Products
Randox has developed the RX series of clinical chemistry analysers for superior semi-automated and fully automated testing. The RX series extensive dedicated test menu goes beyond routine testing and has many unique and high-performance tests available. Our range of tests covers several parameters to assess renal health.
Renal Function
| Albumin | Creatinine Enzymatic | IgG | Phosphorus (Inorganic) |
| Ammonia | Creatinine (Jaffe) | LDH | Urinary Protein |
| Beta-2 Microglobulin | Cystatin C | Magnesium | Urea |
| Calcium | Glucose | Potassium | Uric Acid |
| Chloride | HbA1c/Hb | Sodium | |
Our world-famous test menu of high quality reagents ensures excellence in patient care, guaranteeing unrivalled precision and accuracy reducing costly test re-runs or misdiagnosis and offering complete confidence in results.
The RX series clinical chemistry analysers provide laboratories with a robust and smart solution ensuring you maintain a consistent workflow and can provide accurate results first time, every time. Offering excellent customer support services, our trained engineers are on hand to work with you in preserving the continuity of your operations while maximising the potential of your RX series instrument.
For more information visit: https://www.randox.com/clinical-chemistry-analysers/
Kidney disorders can develop and advance overtime without any signs and the symptoms are not recognised as being associated with renal impairment. Kidney health and regular renal screening is important to enable renal impairment to be detected in its earliest stages to prevent renal failure. Randox offers a comprehensive range of high performance reagents for the detection and characterisation of renal function problems.
All reagents are available for use on a wide range of third party biochemistry analysers. Contact us to request an application for your specific analyser.
Cystatin C
Cystatin C is a useful marker where creatinine measurements are unsuitable e.g. patients who are obese, malnourished, have liver cirrhosis or reduced muscle mass. Cystatin C also does not have a ‘blind area’ unlike creatinine – up to 50% of renal function can be lost before sufficient creatinine levels are detectable. Cystatin C is extremely sensitive to small changes in Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) and so is capable of detecting early stages of renal impairment.
For more information on Cystatin C, visit: www.randox.com/cystatin-c
Enzymatic Creatinine
Creatinine clearance in the kidneys gives a measurement of the GFR which is the standard marker for renal function. The enzymatic method offers superior specificity when compared to the traditional Jaffe method. Other benefits of the enzymatic method over the Jaffe method includes: limited interferences from bilirubin, haemoglobin, Intralipid® and Triglycerides making the assay more suitable for neonatal samples, eliminates the need for urea determination, highly specific and does not overestimate serum creatinine.
For more information on Enzymatic Creatinine, visit: www.randox.com/creatinine
Microalbumin
The detection of albumin in urine can be an indicator of kidney injury, as damage to the glomerular basement membrane results in albumin seeping out of the kidneys into urine. Sustained elevations of urinary albumin concentrations are called Microalbuminuria. The Randox Microalbumin test is an excellent marker of kidney disease and can identify individuals with diabetic nephropathy approximately 5-10 years earlier than proteinuria tests reducing the incidence of end stage renal disease. The American Diabetes Association and Diabetes UK recommend that all diabetics are screened for microalbuminuria on a yearly basis.
For more information on Microalbumin, visit: www.randox.com/microalbumin
Renal Testing Panel
- Cystatin C
- Creatinine Enzymatic
- Creatinine Jaffe
- Microalbumin
- Total Urinary Protein
- Urea
- Sodium
- Potassium
- Albumin
- Ammonia
- β₂ Microglobulin
- Calcium
- Chloride
- Glucose
- HbA1c
- IgG
- LDH
- Magnesium
- Phosphorus (Inorganic)
- Uric Acid
When diagnosing and monitoring Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), it is vital that laboratories have a robust Quality Control (QC) system in place to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the results produced. The Acusera Chemistry and Urine Controls have been designed to cover a wide range of kidney function tests at clinical decision levels eliminating the need for additional low level controls at extra expense.
Our range of Chemistry Controls contain up to 100 analytes and cover a wide range of kidney function tests. Available in a choice of liquid or lyophilised formats, options are available to suit all laboratory sizes and budgets.
Our portfolio of Urine Controls cover the full range of clinical testing, manufactured from 100% human serum a matrix similar to that of the patient is guaranteed. They are available in both liquid ready-to-use and lyophilised formats, making them ideal for use at the point-of-care and in the laboratory.
Common kidney function parameters we cover include;
- Albumin
- Urea/BUN
- Bicarbonate
- Calcium
- Chloride
- Creatinine
- Creatinine Clearance
- Cystatin C
- Glucose
- Phosphate
- Potassium
- Sodium
- Urine Albumin
- Albumin/Creatinine Ratio
- Beta-2 Microglobulin
- Urinalysis
- Urine Protein
For more information, contact us at acusera@randox.com
We also have corresponding RIQAS Chemistry and Urine Programmes which cover the common kidney function tests, including;
RIQAS General Clinical Chemistry Programme
The RIQAS General Clinical Chemistry EQA programme is designed to monitor the performance of up to 52 parameters. Three flexible yet cost effective programme options are available.
- Accredited to ISO/IEC 17043
- Lyophilised for enhanced stability
- Human based serum
- Bi-weekly reporting
- Submit results and view reports online via RIQAS.Net
- Register up to five instruments at no extra cost
- Reference method values are provided for selected parameters/lots
For more information, visit our RIQAS General Clinical Chemistry Programme page.
RIQAS Human Urine Programme
The RIQAS Human Urine EQA programme is designed to monitor the performance of up to 25 routine chemistry assays in urine.
- Accredited to ISO/IEC 17043
- Lyophilised for enhanced stability
- 100% human urine
- Bi-weekly reporting
- Submit results and view reports online via RIQAS.Net
- Register up to five instruments at no extra cost
For more information, visit our RIQAS Human Urine Programme page
Our Randox Health clinics offer comprehensive health testing as part of our Signature, Everyman and Everywoman packages to identify and assess risk of developing Kidney Disease. Our clinics utilise the same cutting-edge tests and quality control that we have available to clinical laboratories globally, as well as our patented Biochip Array Technology (BAT).
For more information visit: https://www.randoxhealth.com/