Emerging Biomarker of Kidney Disease: suPAR or Subpar?

Kidney disease is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality in the US, affecting 14% of the population. It is often referred to as a “silent epidemic” because the disease is often asymptomatic until the late stages and current clinical assays only detect it after a substantial portion of kidney capacity has been lost. As such, there is marked interest in kidney disease biomarkers that could identify the extent of kidney damage earlier in the pathological process. This may allow for interventions that could reduce or save the kidney from irreversible harm, thus reducing morbidity and mortality from this devastating disease. A clinically promising yet controversial biomarker for kidney disease, soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR), was recently showcased in the journal Science (1). suPAR is the circulating form of a membrane protein …