A 'kidney on a chip' device that can mimic the flow of medication through human kidneys and measure its effect on kidney cells has been designed by researchers.

‘A 'kidney on a chip' device that can mimic the flow of medication through human kidneys and measure its effect on kidney cells has been designed by researchers.’

A 'kidney on a chip' device that can mimic the flow of medication through human kidneys and measure its effect on kidney cells has been designed by University of Michigan researchers. The new technique could lead to more precise dosing of drugs, including some potentially toxic medicines often delivered in intensive care units. 




It offers a more accurate way to test medications, closely replicating the environment inside a human kidney. It uses a microfluidic chip device to deliver a precise flow of medication across cultured kidney cells. This is believed to be the first time such a device has been used to study how a medication behaves in the body over time, called its 'pharmacokinetic profile'.
"When you administer a drug, its concentration goes up quickly and it's gradually filtered out as it flows through the kidneys," said Shuichi Takayama, U-M professor of biomedical engineering. "A kidney on a chip enables us to simulate that filtering process, providing a much more accurate way to study how medications behave in the body."
Takayama said the use of an artificial device provides the opportunity to run test after test in a controlled environment. It also enables researchers to alter the flow through the device to simulate varying levels of kidney function.
"Even the same dose of the same drug can have very different effects on the kidneys and other organs, depending on how it's administered," said former U-M researcher Sejoong Kim, an associate professor at Korea's Seoul National University Bundang Hospital. "This device provides a uniform, inexpensive way to capture data that more accurately reflects actual human patients."
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They then pumped a gentamicin solution into the top compartment, where it gradually filtered through the cells and the membrane, simulating the flow of medication through a human kidney. One test started with a high concentration that quickly tapered off, mimicking a once-daily drug dose. The other test simulated a slow infusion of the drug, using a lower concentration that stayed constant. Takayama's team then measured damage to the kidney cells inside the device.
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"We were able to get results that better relate to human physiology, at least in terms of dosing effects, than what's currently possible to obtain from common animal tests," Takayama said. "The goal for the future is to improve these devices to the point where we're able to see exactly how a medication affects the body from moment to moment, in real time."
Takayama said the techniques used in the study should be generalizable to a wide variety of other organs and medications, enabling researchers to gather detailed information on how medications affect the heart, liver and other organs. In addition to helping researchers fine-tune drug dosing regimens, he believes the technique could also help drug makers test drugs more efficiently, bringing new medications to market faster.
Within a few years, Takayama envisions the creation of integrated devices that can quickly test multiple medication regimens and deliver a wide variety of information on how they affect human organs. PHASIQ, an Ann Arbor-based spinoff company founded by Takayama in conjunction with the U-M Office of Technology Transfer, is commercializing the biomarker readout aspect of this type of technology.
Source-Eurekalert