Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Robarts Research Institute
New Peritoneal Dialysis Diagnostic Discovered: Scientists Find Marker for Addressing Infection
London, ON – Thanks to a discovery by
scientists at Robarts Research Institute and The
University of Western Ontario, patients undergoing
peritoneal dialysis may soon be able to worry less
about the risks of infection and lessen their
hospital stays.
Peritoneal dialysis, which involves placing a tube
into the peritoneal cavity, allows people who have
suffered from kidney failure to carry on a relatively
normal life; however, complications include high
incidence of infection of the abdominal cavity,
known as peritonitis, which most patients
experience every year or so.
Joaquin Madrenas, Robarts
scientist and Canada Research Chair in
Immunobiology at Western, the study has looked
at the molecule RIP2 (receptor-interacting protein
2) for clues over the past three years. Though the
precise function of RIP2 is not yet known, scientists
made the important finding that levels of the
molecule increase during infection. More
importantly, peritoneal dialysis patients with
peritonitis who have high levels of RIP2 can be
sent home and treated with antibiotics. If RIP2
levels do not go up, patients risk a protracted
infection and should be admitted for closer
monitoring and more intense treatment. This
information can be used to address the need to
admit patients to the hospital.
“We currently have no objective indicator if
peritonitis will be really bad, so we tend to try to
guess how bad it is,” says Madrenas. “What we
have found is that, by monitoring RIP2, we can
predict the outcome of the infection in patients
taking part in peritoneal dialysis.”
By keeping patients out of hospitals, this discovery
not only helps improve quality of life, but also
reduces strain on the healthcare system.
The team, which includes Madrenas’ PhD student
Michelle McCully and a close collaboration with
Dr. Peter Blake of the division of nephrology at
Western, will now try to adapt the discovery to a
clinical laboratory and hopefully develop a
diagnostic test that can be conducted with a
patient’s peritoneal fluid on a routine basis.
Madrenas also wonders if there are other factors
preventing RIP2 levels from increasing in some
patients. “If we know what problem is preventing
this increase, we could fix it and possibly prevent
infections,” he says.
Media contacts:
Joaquin Madrenas, Robarts Research Institute,
519-663-5777, ext. 34242,
madrenas@robarts.ca
Douglas Keddy, Research Communications
Coordinator, 519-661-2111 ext. 87485, dkeddy@uwo.ca
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