RICORS2040: the need for collaborative research in chronic kidney disease

Abstract

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a silent and poorly known killer. The current concept of CKD is relatively young and uptake by the public, physicians and health authorities is not widespread. Physicians still mix up CKD with chronic kidney insufficiency or failure, For the wider public and health authorities, CKD evokes kidney replacement therapy (KRT). In Spain, the prevalence of KRT is 0.13%. Thus, health authorities may consider CKD a non-issue: very few persons eventually need KRT and, for those in whom kidneys fail, the problem is “solved” by dialysis or kidney transplantation. However, KRT is the tip of the iceberg in the burden of CKD. The main burden of CKD is accelerated aging and premature death. The cut-off points for kidney function and kidney damage indexes that define CKD also mark an increased risk for all-cause premature death. CKD is the most prevalent risk factor for lethal COVID-19 and the factor that most increases the risk of death in COVID-19, after old age. Men and women undergoing KRT still have an annual mortality which is 10- o 100-fold higher than similar age peers, and life expectancy is shortened by around 40 years for young persons on dialysis and by 15 years for young persons with a functioning kidney graft. CKD is expected to become the fifth global cause of death by 2040 and the second cause of death in Spain before the end of the century, a time when 1 in 4 Spaniards will have CKD. However, by 2022, CKD will become the only top-15 global predicted cause of death that is not supported by a dedicated well-funded CIBER network research structure in Spain. Realizing the underestimation of the CKD burden of disease by health authorities, the Decade of the Kidney initiative for 2020-2030 was launched by the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP) and the European Kidney Health Alliance (EKHA). Leading Spanish kidney researchers grouped in the kidney collaborative research network REDINREN have now applied for the RICORS call of collaborative research in Spain with the support of the Spanish Society of Nephrology, ALCER and ONT: RICORS2040 aims to prevent the dire predictions for the global 2040 burden of CKD from becoming true.

Tubular Mitochondrial Dysfunction, Oxidative Stress, and Progression of Chronic Kidney Disease

“…Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is one of the fastest growing causes of death worldwide, set to become the fifth leading global cause of death by 2040 [ 1 ]. Patients with CKD have an increased risk of acute kidney injury (AKI), and AKI may accelerate CKD progression [ 2 ].…”

Molecular Mechanisms of Kidney Injury and Repair

“…Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a growing disease burden, predicted to become the fifth global cause of death by 2040 [1]. The causes of CKD can be genetic, metabolic, immunological and vascular, among others, with metabolic (i.e., diabetes) and vascular causes being the most common [2,3].…”

Epigenetic Modulation of Gremlin-1/NOTCH Pathway in Experimental Crescentic Immune-Mediated Glomerulonephritis

“…Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is defined as abnormalities of kidney structure or function, present for >3 months, with implications for health [1]. CKD is projected to become the 5th global cause of death by 2040 [2], revealing the importance of research in this area [3]. Glomerular kidney disease cause 18% of CKD cases requiring kidney replacement therapy, illustrating the failure of current therapeutic approaches to prevent CKD progression to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) [4].…”