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Urine levels of adenine, a metabolite produced in the kidney, are predictive and a causative biomarker of looming progressive kidney failure in patients with diabetes, a finding that could lead to earlier diagnosis and intervention, researchers reported. The study results are significant because until now, the most important marker for kidney disease has been protein (or albumin) in the urine. Up to half of diabetes patients who develop kidney failure never have much protein in their urine. As 90% of patients with diabetes (more than 37 million patients in the U.S.) remain at increased risk despite low levels of albumin...

For patients hospitalized for acute heart failure, treatment with the sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor empagliflozin produces clinical benefit, according to a study published online April 4 in Circulation to coincide with the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology, held from April 2 to 4 in Washington, D.C. Mikhail N. Kosiborod, M.D., from Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Missouri, and colleagues conducted a secondary analysis to examine the impact of the SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin on symptoms, physical limitations, and quality of life among patients hospitalized for acute heart failure. A total of 530 participants...