Federal Grant Award Summary

The Ohio State University received a $789,350 Project Grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) under the Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.847), effective February 1, 2026 through January 31, 2031. The grant supports research utilizing resazurin fluorescence as a novel diagnostic tool to monitor kidney function and organic anion transporter activity. The project aims to develop a rapid, sensitive, and glomerular filtration rate (GFR)-independent method for quantifying tubular function, nephron mass, and renal reserve following kidney injury—addressing a critical gap in current diagnostic capabilities that often mask disease progression in acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) contexts.

The research leverages the selective uptake of resazurin dye by tubular cells, wherein the dye is reduced to fluorescent metabolites and excreted in urine, providing direct assessment of tubular secretion independent of GFR measurements. Preliminary murine model findings have demonstrated that urinary excretion of resazurin metabolites sensitively reflects both tubular dysfunction and nephron mass loss in severe AKI and subclinical nephron loss scenarios. This investigation will advance kidney disease diagnostic and prognostic capabilities by complementing existing assessment methods and enabling better detection of transitional disease states that current standard tests frequently fail to identify.