The hypothesis of biomedical engineer Dr. Aurélie Carlier and pharmacologist Prof. Dr. Roos Masereeuw is that drugs against cardiovascular diseases block or reduce waste transport in kidney patients. To test their hypothesis, they combine lab experiments with a computer model.
In patients with chronic kidney damage, waste products accumulate in the blood, causing an increased cardiovascular risk. Patients are given medicines against these cardiovascular complications that have to be excreted by the kidneys, but according to Carlier (Maastricht University) and Masereeuw (Utrecht University) there is a potential problem. This is because certain waste products are removed from the blood by the same transport systems as these drugs, creating a competition for excretion between the drugs required by the effects of accumulated waste products and the waste products themselves.
Carlier and Masereeuw will find out whether this idea is correct with a Kolff+ grant from the Kidney Foundation. Because it is impossible to study all combinations of waste products and medicines in the lab, they use a (mathematical) computer model. Based on findings from the lab, this model can make predictions about how medication can influence the excretion of waste. The researchers hope to know in three years’ time which medicines block or reduce the transport of waste, and which alternatives can then be offered.
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