Using protein biomarkers called NGAL and IL-18 in kidney transplant patients will determine whether these patients will require dialysis within the first week of transplant surgery. A study citing evidence in favor of this finding can be found in the American Journal of Transplantation.

The protein NGAL (neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin) was identified by Prasad Devarajan, M.D., director of the division of nephrology and hypertension at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center which was used to predict kidney failure in patients who underwent heart surgery. This same test is now proven as effective in predicting whether a new kidney will or will not work in a transplant patient.

In the United States alone, more than 65,000 people are waiting for kidney transplants and so a diagnostic test such as this is truly important.

If you are a kidney transplant patient or a family or friend of one: be sure to ask your doctor about this protein biomarker.

Read more at EurekAlert.