Dr Louise Oni from Alder Hey and University of Liverpool has been awarded a research project grant of £157,000 to evaluate the lipidomic profile in glomerulonephritis as a bridging biomarker for paediatric extrapolation of cardiovascular disease risk. The project will be led by Dr Elin Davies.

Kidney inflammation called Glomerulonephritis the 2nd most common cause of kidney failure in children. Patients with glomerulonephritis are at risk of heart disease. Like adults with kidney disease, young people with glomerulonephritis get heart disease during adulthood. There is a lack of research into the long-term heart problems in children with glomerulonephritis once they become adults. This project aims to look across all ages for important clues to predict heart problems.

In the body, fats are called ‘lipids’ and they cause poor heart health. Scientists are now able to measure different types of lipids in a very exact way using high tech machines. This information will help us find the most important lipids that may be linked to heart disease. Measuring this risk is important so we can look for new ways to stop it.

The study will collect blood samples from patients of all ages with glomerulonephritis and compare them with patients who don’t have glomerulonephritis but do have chronic kidney disease. We want to compare the heart markers and lipids when they get diagnosed compared to when they are better. We will compare the results with heart markers and lipids in adults to see if they are linked. We will compare the results between adults and children. This will give clues about a test to predict children at risk of future poor heart health.

Alder Hey Children’s Kidney Fund is delighted to support the research and we will share more details as the project progresses.

We would like to thank all our supporters for enabling the Fund to continue funding research, as we have done since our inception in 1968.

Photos – Dr Elin Davies