This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Kidney failure occurs when a person s kidneys can no longer make enough urine to remove enough waste products and fluid from the blood to keep that person alive. People with kidney failure need treatments to filter their blood to stay alive. Treatments that filter the blood are called dialysis. People with kidney failure can also be given a kidney from another people, and that new kidney can filter their blood and keep them alive. This is called a kidney transplant. There are problems associated with dialysis. Dialysis is expensive, time consuming, and requires procedures that may have complications such as infection or bleeding. Also, dialysis cannot substitute entirely for a working kidney, and so it does not remove all the toxins and fluid from a person s body that a working kidney does. This means that people on dialysis must be extremely careful about what they eat and drink. The usual diet that is recommended is very restrictive and people often have trouble following it. There are also problems associated with kidney transplants. It is difficult to get a kidney transplant because the number of kidneys available is much smaller than the number of people with ESRD who need a kidney transplant. People who receive a kidney transplant must take medicines that suppress their immune systems to prevent their bodies from rejecting the kidney transplant. These medicines increase people s risk for life-threatening infections and cancer. The purpose of this study is to learn about a compound called cross-linked polyelectrolyte, or CLP. CLP is a new substance that researchers from the company DOW have invented. CLP is a substance that people can swallow, that then travels through the intestines. While CLP is traveling through the intestines, it can soak up water, salt, and waste products. CLP is then leaves a person s body in their stool. Researchers do not know how safe CLP is. Researchers also do not know if CLP has any serious side effects. CLP has already been given to fourteen people with kidney failure. The results were encouraging, and researchers would like to learn more about CLP. The main reason for this study is to learn whether CLP is safe in people with kidney failure. Another reason for this study is to learn how people feel while they are taking CLP. Researchers also want to do this study to learn how well CLP soaks up water, salt, and waste products from the intestines. It is possible that CLP may help people with kidney failure follow a less restrictive diet. CLP may help delay the need for dialysis or for a kidney transplant for some people with kidney failure. It is possible that some people who need hemodialysis treatments three times a week could substitute CLP for one of their treatments. If this study goes well, researchers plan to use information from this study to plan another larger study, in which more people with kidney failure will be given CLP, to see if CLP can help them.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 1380 publications
