Non-invasive test for kidney rejection now available

Diabetic kidney disease is one of the most frequent complications of diabetes and the leading cause of end-stage renal disease. An innovative, non-invasive test for the diagnosis of acute kidney rejection following a transplant has been launched, according to a press release from Numares, a diagnostics company based in Germany.

The current standard for diagnosing rejection is a kidney biopsy. This new in-vitro test, called renalTX-SCORE, allows a consistent monitoring of the organ without the risks and discomfort of a biopsy.

The test measures multiple biomarkers through a urine sample, and from there a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum is created and evaluated.

"This non-invasive diagnostic to identify organ rejection in kidney transplant patients, which we have successfully developed together with Numares, can be used in outpatient follow-up care even before needle biopsy is performed,” Bernhard Banas, head of the transplant center at Regensburg University Hospital, Germany, said in the release. “RenalTX-SCORE has the potential to reduce the number of biopsies, a procedure which reduces both patient discomfort and potential damage to the transplanted kidney. It can be performed more often due to being non-invasive and cost-effective.”

The diagnostic test is available worldwide.