UAB-UCSD O’Brien Center for Acute Kidney Injury Research

Abstract

Acute kidney injury (AKI) remains a significant clinical problem through its diverse etiologies, the challenges of robust measurements of injury and recovery and its progression to chronic kidney disease. Bridging the gap in knowledge of this disorder requires bringing together not only the technical resources for research, but also the investigators endeavoring to expand our knowledge and those who might bring novel ideas and expertise to this important challenge. The UAB-UCSD O'Brien Center for AKI Research brings together technical expertise and programmatic and educational efforts to advance our knowledge in these diverse issues and the required infrastructure to develop areas of novel exploration. Since inception, this Center has grown its impact by providing state-of-the-art resources in clinical and pre-clinical modeling of AKI, a bioanalytical core that facilitates measurement of critical biomarkers, including serum creatinine via LC-MS/MS among others, and a biostatistical resource. Through these resources and with educational efforts, our Center has grown the Investigator Base to include >200 members from 51 institutions. Importantly, this Center has translated its pilot and catalyst funding program with a $37 return/dollar invested. Over 500 publications have resulted from the support provided with a relative citation ratio of 2.18 ± 0.12. Through its efforts, this disease-centric O'Brien Center is providing the infrastructure and focus to help the development of the next generation of researchers in the basic and clinical science of AKI. This Center creates the promise of the application at the bedside of the advances in AKI made by current and future investigators.

Associations of Urine Biomarkers of Kidney Tubule Health With Incident Hypertension and Longitudinal Blood Pressure Change in Middle-Aged Adults: The CARDIA Study

“…The primary exposures were urine concentrations of EGF, YKL-40, KIM-1, MCP-1, IL-18, UMOD, and α1m measured in spot urine samples collected at the year 20 examination. All biomarkers were measured in the University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of California, San Diego O’Brien Center for Acute Kidney Injury Research Bioanalytical Core 16 after a single freeze-thaw using multiplex assays on the Meso Scale Discovery platform, except for α1m, which was measured using ELISA (Abcam; ab108884). Overall inter- and intra-assay coefficients of variation were 1.2% to 5.6% and 3.1% to 13.5%, respectively.…”

“…The primary exposures were urine concentrations of EGF, YKL-40, KIM- 16 after a single freeze-thaw using multiplex assays on the Meso Scale Discovery platform, except for α1m, which was measured using ELISA (Abcam; ab108884). Overall inter-and intraassay coefficients of variation were 1.2% to 5.6% and 3.1% to 13.5%, respectively.…”

Metabolic mechanisms of acute proximal tubular injury

“…This in turn will most likely necessitate multi-disciplinary working with specialists currently outside the kidney field, the generation of more sophisticated in vitro models, and the integration of various different data sets (gene expression, metabolomics/proteomics, intravital imaging, etc.) [ 20 ]. Meanwhile, an increased usage of larger animals in the research pipeline might help to bridge the species gap between rodents and humans [ 89 ].…”

Urine Epidermal Growth Factor and Kidney Function Decline in Middle-Aged Adults

“…All biomarkers were measured at the University of Alabama at Birmingham-University of California, San Diego O’Brien Center for Acute Kidney Injury Research Bioanalytical Core located in San Diego, CA. 20 All samples underwent a single freeze-thaw, and all biomarkers were measured using multiplex assays on the Meso Scale Discovery platform, except for α1m, which was measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Abcam ab108884). 20 The assay controls adhered with the 2-standard deviation (SD) Levey-Jennings control rule, and overall inter- and intra-assay coefficients of variation were 1.2%-5.6% and 3.1%-13.5%, respectively.…”

“… 20 All samples underwent a single freeze-thaw, and all biomarkers were measured using multiplex assays on the Meso Scale Discovery platform, except for α1m, which was measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Abcam ab108884). 20 The assay controls adhered with the 2-standard deviation (SD) Levey-Jennings control rule, and overall inter- and intra-assay coefficients of variation were 1.2%-5.6% and 3.1%-13.5%, respectively. Each biomarker was measured in duplicate, and results were averaged to improve precision.…”