Researchers at UAB have found that the amount of proteins excreted in the urine of preterm infants with acute kidney injury, or AKI, is different from that excreted by infants with healthy kidneys.

The study, led by principal investigator David Askenazi, M.D., was published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

“The findings in this study could help physicians better diagnose kidney health in newborns,” said Askenazi, associate professor in the UAB Department of Pediatrics and director of UAB’s Pediatric and Infant Center for Acute Nephrology. “Having better diagnostic tests to diagnose kidney injury will have an important impact on how we care for infants and how we prognosticate outcomes, and will enable us to design studies to prevent and/or mitigate kidney damage in these very vulnerable babies.”

Study co-authors include Rajesh Koralkar, MPH, Neha Patil, M.D., Brian Halloran, M.S., Namasivayam Ambalavanan, M.D., and Russell Griffin, Ph.D.

Click here to view the press release on UAB News.