Reducing the high rate of chronic kidney disease in First Nations communities

Why are First Nations people more vulnerable to developing CKD?
An MRFF funded study is finding out. Image: Shutterstock

Indigenous-led research is using advanced multi-omics technology to reduce the high rate of chronic kidney disease in First Nations communities.

In 2020 a team of Monash, Baker and SAHMRI researchers received MRFF funding of $2M to investigate chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Indigenous populations for their project entitled "Reducing the burden of chronic kidney disease in the Indigenous population - the PROPHECY CKD study" to investigate why First Nations Peoples have one of the highest rates of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the world. 

Two years on, they know more as they follow up on close to 1500 First Nations donors of blood samples.

See faculty story.

Study reveals the reason why processed foods trigger chronic kidney disease

Donuts are don'tnuts, being high in pro-inflammatory compounds.
A Monash led team has published research on not only how diet leads
to chronic kidney disease, but also how diet can reverse the damage.
A/Prof Melinda Coughlan explains: see video

A recent study led by Monash University diabetes researchers has shown that a diet high in processed foods brings on leaky gut syndrome, which in turn increases the risk of kidney disease.

In particular, the findings revealed that certain harmful chemical compounds called Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs), triggered by a process called the Maillard reaction, switch on the body's danger signals leading to an inflammatory response and chronic kidney disease, but by introducing foods containing a specialised fibre, the effects can be improved.

$2M MRFF grant win for reducing chronic kidney disease in Australia's Indigenous population

The MRFF Indigenous Health CKD team members L-R: CIA Prof Mark Cooper (Monash University), CIB Ms Kim Morey (SAHMRI), CIC Prof Paul Zimmet (MU), CID Mr Ricky Mentha (Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute), CIE Prof Karin Jandeleit-Dahm (MU), CIF Prof Assam El-Osta (MU), CIG Prof Stephen McDonald (SAHMRI)

Congratulations to Professor Mark Cooper, Department of Diabetes, on the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) funding award in the area of Indigenous Health research. The Monash University Diabetes researchers are collaborating with researchers at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) in South Australia on a project entitled "Reducing the burden of chronic kidney disease in the Indigenous population - the PROPHECY CKD study" (APP1200005) which has been awarded $1,995,895 across five years.

Revealing the mysterious ways the gut affects kidney disease

by Anne Crawford

Dr Matthew Snelson

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is estimated to affect 13 per cent of the population globally. It is associated with a two- to three-fold increased risk of death caused by the disease itself and also carries a higher risk to patients of dying from heart disease or stroke.

Patients with CKD have increased levels of uremic toxins – toxins produced by bacteria in the gut that are normally excreted in the urine in healthy people but which build up in those with CKD.

A recent PhD graduate of Monash University’s Central Clinical School has conducted a review of literature to understand how this happens as a base to eventually finding ways of preventing it by creating new therapeutics.

Dr Matthew Snelson, a winner of the CCS’s 3MT (three minute thesis) award, became interested in CKD as a clinical dietitian working in Perth. “I was very interested in the role of gut microbiota and the mechanisms by which diet affects disease outcomes,” he said. “The emerging evidence looking at the link between the gut and the kidney was a really interesting area.”