Proteomics International Laboratories (ASX:PIQ) has announced that a study demonstrating the clinical utility of the PromarkerD test in predicting diabetic kidney disease has been published in the journal PLOS ONE.
PLOS ONE is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by the Public Library of Science (PLOS).
PromarkerD is a newly developed blood test that can predict diabetic kidney disease before clinical symptoms appear. It can help doctors make treatment decisions and improve outcomes for patients with type 2 diabetes.
Proteomics International managing director Dr Richard Lipscombe said, "The specialist web-based clinical utility survey shows PromarkerD results ranked as more important to physicians than current standard-of-care tests eGFR (estimated glomerular filtration rate) and ACR (urinary albumin - creatinine ratio)."
The senior author of the study, endocrinologist Dr Alexander Turchin, said PromarkerD allows earlier targeted treatment for patients at high risk of diabetic kidney disease while avoiding unnecessary interventions for people at low risk.
"When presented with moderate or high-risk PromarkerD results, physicians were more likely to implement renoprotective changes-such as increasing monitoring frequency, prescribing SGLT2 inhibitors or replacing ibuprofen-than if they did not have the PromarkerD test results," he said.
"These changes can help avoid end-stage interventions such as dialysis and kidney transplant. In contrast, when presented with low-risk PromarkerD results, the likelihood of aggressive treatment and health care resource utilisation reduced."
The clinical utility study, performed in collaboration with Veranex Solutions (formerly Boston Healthcare Associates), surveyed 400 primary care physicians and endocrinologists in the US. The physicians were asked to assess 42 real-life scenarios for patients with type 2 diabetes. The study found PromarkerD risk scores would significantly impact physician decision-making - 78 per cent of physicians in the study said they were very or extremely likely to order the PromarkerD test for their type 2 diabetes patients, with only 2 per cent indicating they would not order the test.
