This study will collect blood specimens from patients with cardiorenal syndrome (CRS), as well as patients with heart or kidney disease who don’t have cardiorenal syndrome. Blood specimens will also be collected from patients undergoing kidney transplantation before and after their transplant.
The project will establish a cardiorenal data-linked biospecimen research asset for cardiorenal disease research including biomarker and genomic discovery.
What is the issue for NSW?
There is a direct relationship between heart and kidney disease known as cardiorenal syndrome, deterioration of one organ leads to worsening of the other. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with reduced life expectancy, and cardiovascular mortality accounts for nearly 50% of all deaths.
There are no specific diagnostic criteria for cardiorenal syndrome, and no tests to identify worsening disease, nor tailored treatment. Therapeutic guidelines for CRS are largely based on cardiovascular trials, and yet CKD patients with CRS have been excluded from the majority (80%) of studies. The current NSW Clinical Service Framework for Chronic Heart Failure identifies CKD as a significant risk factor but provides no specific guidelines for management.
There is no dedicated biobank committed to the study of cardiorenal disease. Yet there is a clear need for research to understand the prevalence and underlying biological mechanism(s) of CRS, and to identify useful biomarkers which will inform diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cardiorenal disease.
What does the research aim to do and how?
Despite the well-recognised role of biomarkers in cardiovascular disease (troponin, brain natriuretic peptide), many used in clinical practice are non-specific and chronically elevated in patients with kidney disease. By data-linking CRS biospecimens this project will facilitate research into novel and specific biomarkers of cardiorenal syndrome.
The collection establishes a dedicated cardiorenal research resource that will improve knowledge of the disease and facilitate diagnostic and therapeutic development.