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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.”