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Wednesday, July 15, 2015

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com NEWS/SPORTS

Diabetic kidney disease treatment found

University researchers 
develop alternative 

use for arthritis 

drug 

By SANJAY REDDY

Daily Staff Reporter

A drug initially designed to 

treat arthritis may now be the 
biggest development in the last 
two decades in treating diabet-
ic kidney disease, according to 
recent University research.

Last week, University Medi-

cal School researchers and their 
colleagues 
presented 
results 

from a randomized, controlled 
study of the experimental drug 
baricitinib in patients with dia-
betic kidney disease.

The results of the study 

showed 
that, 
after 
six 

months, baricitinib substantial-
ly reduced a measure of kidney 
dysfunction called urinary albu-
min/creatinine ratio, or UACR. 
They also showed that barici-
tinib reduced blood and urine 
levels of IP-10 and sTNFR2, 
two compounds that indicate 
inflammation in the kidneys.

Findings also indicted the 

only significant side effect of 
the drug was the onset of mild 
anemia among the treatment 
group with the highest dose, 
which was predicted based on 
previous findings.

Frank Brosius, professor of 

internal medicine and a co-
leader of the multi-institutional 
clinical trial, said his team’s new 
findings are significant because 
kidney disease is a large prob-
lem among diabetic patients and 
will only worsen in the future.

“Once diabetic patients get 

kidney disease, it leads to a host 
of other problems, so anything 
that we can do to prevent, fore-
stall or treat diabetic kidney dis-
ease is extremely important,” 
Brosius said.

Nearly 40 percent of diabetic 

patients eventually develop kid-
ney disease. Because diabetes 
incidence rates are currently 
rising, especially in countries 
such as China, where half of all 
adults are now pre-diabetic, the 
results of this trial have impli-
cations on a global health scale, 
said Brosius.

Matthias 
Kretzler, 
profes-

sor of internal medicine and 
co-leader of the study, said the 
new findings are a product of 
decades worth of research. 

He explained that, over many 

years, researchers gathered tis-
sue samples from cohorts of 
patients and genetically ana-

lyzed these samples to iden-
tify groups of genes that were 
activated in the progression of 
kidney disease. According to 
Kretzler, these analyses helped 
establish 
the 
connection 
to 

arthritis.

“After 
identifying 
these 

genes, we mapped them into 
networks of interacting genes, 
which led us to identify a sig-
nal transduction cascade called 
JAK-STAT, 
an 
inflammation 

pathway implicated in arthri-
tis,” Kretzler said.

Collaborations amongst the 

University 
Medical 
School’s 

Business Development, the Uni-
versity research team and Eli 
Lilly & Co., the pharmaceutical 
company that first engineered 
the drug to treat arthritis, were 
crucial to the study. 

Kretzler said this collabora-

tion made the strategy of repur-

posing the drug possible.

“This is an example of how 

connecting 
very 
different 

knowledge domains can help 
make what we believe is a sig-
nificant finding for treating 
a disease that has evaded any 
advancement in care for the last 
two decades,” Kretzler said.

Future research aims to iden-

tify different target compounds 
that are involved in the same 
JAK-STAT pathway, or in other 
pathways that have connec-
tions to diabetic kidney disease. 
Once this is done, Brosius said 
researchers can tailor treat-
ments to inhibit or activate the 
pathways.

“We are looking for other 

pathways and targets that aren’t 
even related,” Brosius said. “We 
think that patients have differ-
ent ways of getting to the same 
final point.”

Cindy Ofili stepping out from 
older sister’s Olympic shadow

By SYLVANNA GROSS 

Daily Sports Editor

As Cindy Ofili lined up at the 

start line at the British Champi-
onships, she didn’t take her eyes 
off the 100-meter hurdles course.

She didn’t glance at her older 

sister, Michigan alum Tiffany 
Porter, who now runs profession-
ally for Great Britain. And she 
didn’t glance at Michigan coach 
James Henry, who has been at 
the helm of her training through 
her entire Michigan career and 
throughout the summer.

She stared straight ahead and 

ran.

The rising senior sprinter and 

hurdler crossed the finish line to 
place second 12.96 seconds later, 
right behind her sister (12.83).

“Honestly, even though she is 

my sister, she was my competitor,” 
Ofili said. “In between rounds we 
shook hands, but other than that, 
we focused on ourselves. She’s 
one of the best in the world, so I 
know that I’m making progress 
by running with her. It’s a great 
experience and it was very spe-
cial running against each other in 
the finals.”

It’s this discipline and focus 

that affirmed Ofili’s standout 
junior year. She went undefeated 
in the 100-meter hurdles through 
the outdoor season and finished 
runner-up at the NCAA Outdoor 
Championships. With her final 
time of the season, 12.60, she 
broke her personal record by .21 
seconds and the school record 
by .13 seconds 
— a record pre-
viously set by 
Porter 
seven 

years prior.

Her 
time 

also stands as 
the 
seventh-

fastest time in 
the world for 
the 
100-meter 

hurdles.

In the same day as her qualify-

ing 100-meter hurdle race at the 
NCAA Outdoor Championships, 
she broke a second school record 
in the 100-meter dash, finishing 
in 11.39 seconds.

Earlier in the season, she 

defended her title in the indoor 
60-meter hurdles, clocking in 
at 8.15. She was named Big Ten 
Track Athlete of the Week six 

times 
between 
January 
and 

April and received the presti-
gious Michigan Chapter Wilma 
Rudolph Award, among other 
athletic and academic achieve-
ments.

“Every athlete at this stage is 

experienced and skilled,” Ofili 
said. “So you see a lot of similar 
mindsets. I’m definitely excited 

and I feel very 
accomplished. 
I 
did 
things 

I 
didn’t 
even 

imagine 
doing. 

I 
feel 
accom-

plished, 
but 
I 

still 
feel 
very 

hungry 
and 

very motivated 
for this coming 

year.”

She currently holds the school 

record for the indoor 60-meter 
and 200-meter events, as well as 
the outdoor 100-meter dash and 
100-meter hurdles.

A large part of her motivation 

also stems from her coach.

Henry has been the head coach 

for the Michigan women’s track 
and field team for 31 seasons. 
At the 2012 London Olympic 

Games alone, he had three former 
athletes 
competing, 
including 

Porter, as well as one graduate 
student.

“My sister had a similar rela-

tionship with (Henry) as I do 
now,” Ofili said. “He loves us both 
and treats us like we’re great ath-
letes. The thing about (Henry) is 
that he’s always had more con-
fidence in me than I have had in 
myself. He’s always told me I had 
greatness. He knew I had this in 
me all along.”

The four-time Big Ten Cham-

pion is preparing for her senior 
year “hungry” for the upcoming 
competition. Between now and 
the start of the collegiate season, 

she will compete in China at the 
IAAF 
World 
Championships, 

already having clinched her bid 
alongside her sister at the British 
Championships.

She is also enjoying her new 

role on the international stage 
as a soon-to-be professional, and 
states that it’s an “eye-opening 
experience.”

Going into senior year, Ofili 

recognizes that she’ll be facing 
heightened expectations to per-
form and to succeed. She copes 
with the pressure by telling her-
self that her time as a Wolverine 
is a journey, and that with Michi-
gan behind her, she hopes this is 
just the beginning.

FILE PHOTO/Daily

Cindy Ofili took second in the 100-meter hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
“I did things 
I didn’t even 

imagine doing.”

