Dedicated Website From Alpha Laboratories Provides a Valuable Information Resource for Early Diagnosis of Acute Kidney Injury

NGALTest.co.uk is a website that is dedicated to raising awareness amongst Clinicians and Laboratories about the value of early diagnosis of AKI by analyzing the novel biomarker, Neutrophil Gelatinase-associated Lipocalin rather than the traditional, nonspecific Creatinine. Clinical and research products are both detailed on the website.

Acute kidney injury is no longer considered to be an innocent bystander merely reflecting co-existent pathologies. It has been demonstrated to be an independent risk factor for mortality. The cause of this is unclear but is possibly associated with an increased risk of “non-renal” complications such as bleeding and sepsis.

In June 2011, Marion Kerr, a Department of Health Economist, published an analysis of the financial cost of AKI to the NHS. Costs attributable to this condition were estimated to be between £434M and £620M per annum. This is 26-38% of total kidney care expenditure. This condition was estimated to cost more than expenditure on lung and skin cancer combined. Assuming (as per NCEPOD) 30% of AKI is preventable, successful preventive measures would save the NHS £130M TO £186M per annum.

There is an urgent need for diagnostic tools to identify AKI as early as possible. NGAL has been proven to be a biomarker that is raised within 2 hours after the onset of AKI. This is much earlier than the traditional Creatinine which rises 48-72 hours post AKI.