Bayer Diagnostics licenses urinary trypsin inhibitor to Signet

Bayer Healthcare’s diagnostic division has licensed tests for inflammation markers found in urine to Signet Laboratories.

Bayer’s trypsin inhibitor tests ? known as immunoassays ? detect the presence of uristatin and bikunin in blood and urine. The company says the substances can indicate inflammation in bodily organs.

Signet said that the agreement will allow it to test the inhibitor’s efficacy as a biomarker for acute renal failure (ARF), with the intent to further develop an assay which can predict the onset of the condition.

Dr Michael Pugia of Bayer said: “Inflammation is the body’s protective response to an injury. If the response goes unchecked, however, it can negatively affect vital organs. For example, inflammation of the kidney may cause kidney failure.”

He claimed that “the trypsin inhibitors Uri and Bik are cutting-edge biomarkers that can have a great impact on the diagnosis and management of diseases for inflammation, such as kidney disease.”

Actute inflammation is often associated with disorders such as meningitis, sepsis, urinary tract infection. Chronic inflammation problems plague sufferers of diabetes mellitus, kidney diseases and auto-immune disorders such as organ-failure and rheumatoid arthritis.

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