Telomere shortening in renal disease
Research type
Research Study
Full title
To investigate telomere length shortening and telomerase activity in acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, end stage renal failure and transplantation.
IRAS ID
167266
Contact name
Magdi Yaqoob
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queen Mary Innovation Centre
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 3 months, 1 days
Research summary
There is growing evidence that chronological age is one of the strongest predictors of chronic disease but may not be considered to be a causal factor.
Telomeres are nucleoprotein that protects chromosome by telomerase. Both these proteins are important in maintaining the structure of the chromosome that progressively shortens with age, eventually resulting in nuclear instability followed by senescence or apoptosis. Hence, a reliable indicator of biological age and a marker of senescence. Various conditions have been associated with telomere shortening such as cardiovascular disease, ulcerative colitis, liver cirrhosis and malignancy but little known in the field of nephrology. The rate of attrition of telomere length (TL) and telomerase activity (TA) has been linked to exposure to high oxidative stress and inflammation and proposed as a risk factor for age related chronic disease. Current evidence suggests that TL and TA may play a role in progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD).
The aim of the study is to investigate the link between these markers in patients with acute kidney injury (AKI), CKD, potential and current kidney donors, end stage renal failure (ESRF) on renal replacement therapy (RRT) and renal transplant recipients.
We hypothesize that these markers are significantly abnormal in this group of patients and the rate of TL shortening and reduction in TA is greater than the normal population. We postulate that this alteration is associated with inflammation, increased cardiovascular risk and higher risk of adverse outcome and could potentially be used as a predictor of mortality.
This is an observational cohort study eligible for patients with AKI, CKD, ESRF on RRT, potential kidney donors, donor nephrectomy and renal transplant recipients. It involves taking a blood sample over a 3-year period. The study is funded by William Harvey Research Foundation. Patients will be recruited from Barts Health NHS Trust.
REC name
London - Bromley Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/1073
Date of REC Opinion
2 Jul 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion