NURTuRE update (July 2020)
Thank you for being part of NURTuRE. We’d like to update you on how we are using the samples you donated to research into Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and Nephrotic Syndrome (INS). One of the main benefits we perceive of this work is to be able to re-classify your disease into groups that are more likely to benefit from specific targeted treatments. This is a so-called ‘personalised medicine’ approach that will allow new therapies to be introduced based on what we learn about the biology of your disease.
As part of a Medical Research Council (MRC)-funded project, we are currently studying DNA collected from your blood samples. So far, samples from 3121 patients (both CKD and INS) have been sent to be analysed. We hope that by looking at everyone’s DNA together we can find signature changes in those with different types of kidney disease. This is a collaborative effort and includes experts from our Industry Partners, the University of Bristol, University of Manchester and Kings College London.
A team at the University of Manchester are studying proteins within the blood samples collected to see if there are any important differences between patients. After their initial analysis, further samples will be tested to verify their findings.
Some of the kidney biopsy material collected will be making its way to the University of Manchester. Scientists here have perfected a cutting-edge technique (and just bought some expensive state-of-the-art equipment to help with this!) that can micro-laser parts of your kidney biopsy tissue to look at specific areas of the kidney in much greater depth than currently possible.
For those with Nephrotic Syndrome, our patient representatives have used a grant from the Wellcome Trust to design an app to track your disease, e.g. recording daily urine dipsticks. This will soon be going live and we will update you on here when it does!
Thanks again for your role in this research. We look forward to updating you in the future on what we find!
Using a biorepository to investigate disease progression (Jan 2020)
An article from NIHR (National Institute for Health Research) about the NURTuRE biorepository, which includes an excellent interview with Professor Maarten Taal.
Read the full article here.
Accessing samples from the QUOD biobank (Nov 2019)
Kidney R
esearch UK are a charity partner in the grant, funded by Medical Research Council (MRC) and the NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), to expand the QUOD (Quality in Organ Donation) biobank and infrastructure. Blood, urine and tissue samples from appropriately consented/authorised organ donors are available in this excellent resource and we are encouraging more people in the research community to apply to use them in their research projects based on scientific merit.
Visit QUOD for more information and to request access to the samples.
NURTuRE-CKD reaches 3000 recruitment target (August 29 2019)
We are delighted that the last few patients needed to reach our 3000 target for the NURTuRE-CKD study were recruited this week in Derby, Leicester, Nottingham and York. In total, 15 hospitals have been involved in the NURTuRE-CKD study over the past two years.
“NURTuRE is an exciting project that will accelerate much needed research into kidney disease in the UK. This is a fantastic achievement and really something to be celebrated by everyone involved. We are extremely thankful for the effort that has been made by staff at all the hospitals involved in recruitment and very grateful to the patients who have agreed to take part. Our task now is to encourage the 3,000 participants to continue to work with us and attend their follow-up appointment so that we can obtain further samples needed to complete the study”. –Professor Maarten Taal
Read more here
But we do still need your help…
NURTuRE-INS (NephroS) is still collecting samples from people with nephrotic syndrome (NS), and although we are over halfway to reaching our target of 800, if you are a patient with nephrotic syndrome in one of the participating hospitals and you haven’t yet been approached, please ask the doctor or nurse at your renal unit.
New poster on the experiences of the Derby site, presented by Kelly White at UK Kidney Week June 2019 (Brighton)
Click here to see the poster