A team of researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in California has devised a novel computational model to forecast the likelihood of kidney disease development in patients with Type 2 diabetes (T2D).
The model, as stated in a press release, evaluates DNA methylation markers, which indicate subtle changes in the DNA, by analysing blood samples. This allows for the assessment of current kidney function as well as future kidney performance. The model was constructed using data from over 1,200 T2D patients in the Hong Kong Diabetes Register and has undergone testing on a group of Native Americans with T2D.
Diabetes is responsible for approximately half of the cases of end-stage kidney disease and dialysis in Asia. Despite advancements in the treatment of diabetic kidney disease, accurately determining a patient's risk of developing the condition based solely on clinical factors remains challenging. Ronald Ma, a Diabetes professor at CUHK Faculty of Medicine, emphasised the potential impact of the computational model in preventing kidney disease among T2D patients and optimising their treatment by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and data analysis.
The research team is presently working on refining the model while also expanding its application by incorporating additional data to enhance its predictive capabilities for other diabetes-related outcomes. Furthermore, a patent application for the model has been filed.
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