PROCLAIM: Proximal Tubule Clearance of Renal Medications Study
Investigator
What is the PROCLAIM Study?
The kidney tubules are responsible for eliminating hundreds of prescribed medications. Yet, kidney drug dosing is still based on the glomerular filtration rate – a different kidney function. The goal of this study was to compare tubular clearance and the glomerular filtration rate as predictors of kidney drug elimination. We administered two common medications for this purpose: furosemide and penciclovir to 54 people with a wide range of kidney function from chronic kidney disease to normal.
Results:
Kidney tubular clearance strongly predicted the elimination of both test medications. However, the glomerular filtration was only slightly less predictive of kidney medication clearance, suggesting that, among stable outpatients, these two kidney functions are in fact tightly linked. Additional studies are underway to compare these kidney functions in different disease settings, such as acute kidney injury, and for different medications.
Findings:
This study shows that tubular secretory clearance, a kidney function not measured in practice, can be used to accurately predict kidney drug elimination.
Publication:
"Prediction of Kidney Drug Clearance: A Comparison of Tubular Secretory Clearance and Glomerular Filtration Rate"