Early diagnosis of renal diseases children.
CTB-UPM researchers help identify the elements responsible for the obstructive nephropathy, the most frequent congenital kidney disease.
Spain, 2011-October The work developed by researchers at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid opens a new path for the study of the obstructive nephropathy, one of the more complex renal disorders with devastating consequences on the health of many newborns.
Children affected by this disease suffer a partial or total blockage of the urinary tract, preventing a normal flow of urine, which has just been accumulating in the kidney. As a result, serious injuries occur in this body that, in many cases, require surgery and transplants.
The main objective of the study was “ detected through the analysis based on complex networks, are responsible for this disease elements â€, says Massimiliano Zanin, researcher at the center of biomedical technology at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, and one of the authors of the paper.
To this end, data were analyzed of ten patients, i.e., affected by the disease, and other ten subjects of control or healthy people. These data include the levels of 852 metabolites, molecules responsible for the bio-chemical activity of any cell, and 834 microRNA, small RNA chains that blocked the transcription of other genes, and therefore regulate the metabolism of cells. The large amount of data is a challenge: how to find the elements responsible for the disease efficiently?
The analysis has been done through a mathematical formalism known as theory of complex networks. These networks are virtual objects composed of nodes and links between pairs of nodes that satisfy certain properties. An example explains the Professor, so are social networks, where nodes represent different people, and links together people who share a bond of friendship.
In this study, the nodes represented various metabolites and microRNAs, and links connecting pairs of elements whose levels were out of the range expected in healthy people and therefore had an expression “ abnormal â€.
Complex for the analysis of congenital diseases networks
According to the researchers, “ the main obtained conclusion is that the topology of the complex networks associated with each person can reveal useful information about the degree of severity of this disease, as well as help identify the elements responsible for the same â€. In the future, these results could serve to facilitate early detection of disease.
In addition, the same structure of networks may allow the identification, specifically for each patient, the metabolic and genetic elements responsible for the development of the obstruction. All this would affect a significant improvement of treatment and quality of life of patients.
Further, indicate “ hope that the proposed technique will serve for the analysis of other diseases †so that this method be applied to other problems, especially in the field of biomedicine, for “ not easily removable results with other techniques of data mining â€.
Work “ Complex Networks analysis of Obstructive Nephropathy Data †(Massimiliano Zanin and Stefano Boccaletti) has been published in the journal Chaos. Recently, Physics Today magazine has included it in its Research Highlights, the selection section performs every month with the best publications of Physics in the world.
The Centre of biomedical technology (CTB)
Located on the Campus of excellence international of Montegancedo of the Polytechnic University of Madrid, the Centre for technology in biomedicine aims to address major scientific challenges in the field of health and Biomedicine. Its objective is to facilitate the development of biomedical technology for transfer to industry products, as well as setting up an enabling environment for the training of new researchers and professionals in this field.
CTB is the result of the scientific technological UPM-Biotech in the field of engineering and the life sciences. It’s boosting research and development of technological solutions for the care, prevention and promotion of health, research on new tools for diagnosis and therapy, and studies in basic technology and biomedicine which support those. The Center is at the forefront of biomedical research in several fields of great current relevance, which have be addressed thanks to the participation of researchers from very different disciplines.
