Highlights of the American Society of Nephrology Conference Day 1.

 Some rights reserved by Michael in San Diego, California 

After a whirlwind 12 hours of connecting flights I have finally arrived in San Diego to attend this years American Society of Nephrology conference.

The opening session of the 42nd annual conference was kicked off with an engrossing lecture by Nobel Prize winner Dr. Roger Tsien MD.

Dr Tsien gave an overview of his prize winning research on labeling of molecules with photo-labile elements and fluorescent techniques which allow direct visualization of processes which could only previously be imagined. The highlight of his presentation was his novel use of color as a tool and guide for surgeons. By injecting molecules that bind to cancer cells or their products, cancer cells can be made to glow any color that he chooses. This allows the operating surgeon to see the extent of the tumor in realtime allowing the possibility of more complete resection of tumors and thus increasing the chances of cure.

The possibilities opened by this research are amazing, almost any molecule can be tagged by his method and then linked to a marker of his choosing. Gadolinium for instance can be applied as a marker instead of a light emitting compound if the true extent of the tumor needed to be visualized on MRI.

Also of note........

The John P Peters Award was awarded to William E Mith MD, FASN for a lifetime of work in renal nutrition, muscle protein catabolism and acidemia induced muscle protein metabolism.

The Outcome of three major studies are expected to be revealed this year.

FAVORIT - The purpose of this randomized clinical trial is to determine if lowering homocysteine levels in renal transplant recipients with a multivitamin will reduce the occurrence of cardiovascular disease outcomes.

ROADMAP - ROADMAP is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, multi-center Phase III study being conducted at 262 collaborating centers in 19 European countries. The primary goal of the study is to test the hypothesis that treatment of T2DM patients with 40 mg of olmesartan medoxomil will prevent or delay the occurrence of microalbuminuria in comparison to a regimen that excludes agents that directly block the RAS. The secondary objective is to test the hypothesis that treatment with olmesartan medoxomil has a positive effect on cardiovascular and renal morbidity and mortality.

TREAT - Will evaluate whether treatment of anemia with Aranesp (darbopoietin) reduces cardiovascular events in patients with chronic kidney disease and with type 2 diabetes.

One of the most interesting papers mentioned today in the presidents opening address was the localization of increased risk of non-diabetic kidney disease in African Americans to the Myh9 gene locus. This finding may finally explain why African Americans are at increased risk of kidney disease and ultimately lead to understanding the mechanism of this increased risk thus guiding more specific therapy for patients with the gene.

Stay tuned the conference has only just begun....