Sensitive Kidney Function Biomarker Introduced for CKD Patients

The blood level of cystatin C is a more reliable marker for analyzing kidney function than creatinine (CCr). When kidney function and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) decline, there is an accompanying rise in blood levels of cystatin C.

Roche Diagnostics (Rotkreuz, Switzerland) introduced Tina-quant Cystatin C reagent, a highly sensitive, effective renal function biomarker for use on the Roche Hitachi 917, cobas c 501 analyzer, and Modular Analytics P 800 module.

Accurately assessing and monitoring renal function is of critical importance to patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The shortcomings of creatinine- and creatinine-derived equations prompted a search for more reliable endogenous markers of kidney function. The Roche Tina-quant Cystatin C reagent offers a more accurate, reliable biomarker than creatinine for analyzing renal function. If kidney function and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) decline, the blood levels of cystatin C rise.

Cystatin C is better than current routine clinical measures for renal function. It is more accurate than plasma creatinine and the Cockcroft-Gault estimation of creatinine clearance and more reliable than 24-hour creatinine clearance. The Roche Tina-quant Cystatin C is also more convenient to use in the lab. It is a liquid ready-to-use reagent with a 10-minute time for average turn around (TAT), high throughput, and 8-week onboard stability. The simplicity of Cystatin C combined with its reasonable cost suggest that it might soon replace CCr as the biochemical marker of choice for monitoring renal function.

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