Chronic Kidney Disease Japan Cohort

To Investigators who participate in CKD-JAC study

Expectation for Chronic Kidney Disease Japan Cohort (CKD-JAC) Study

November, 2008
CKD-JAC study group / Representative Organizer
Akira Hishida M.D.
Yaizu City Hospital

The countermeasures for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), such as stroke and myocardial infarction, are urgently needed not only in Japan but all over the world. A new health check-up system which targets metabolic syndrome and lifestyle-related diseases has just started as one of the important activities against CVD in Japan.

Recent studies indicated that CKD, which is diagnosed when patients have either sings of kidney damage (e.g. proteinuria) or a decreased kidney function (below 60ml/min/1.73m2 as a glomerular filtration rate) for more than three months, is a strong risk factor of CVD. The level of risk for the development of CVD is reported to be similar for patients with CKD, those having CVD events in the past and having diabetes mellitus.

In Japan, the number of dialysis patients now exceeds 270,000 and continues to increase by around 10,000 each year. Several studies in Japan demonstrated that 13% of adults have CKD and that CKD is also a strong risk factor for end stage of kidney disease (ESKD) or CVD in Japanese patients.

However, we still have several important questions on CKD to be answered. For example, we do not have evidence on the level of the glomerular filtration rate which accelerates the reduction of kidney function or increases the risk of cardiovascular events. Moreover, the risk factors for the progression to the ESKD or for the development of CVD in Japanese patients are still not well understood.

Now in order to find answers to such questions, CKD-JAC was launched in Japan. In the U.S., a similar clinical research CRIC (Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort) has already started and is on going. It is expected that a comparison of these two studies in the future may reveal and clarify the characteristics of Japanese CKD patients.

It is my firm belief that CKD-JAC would help clarify the prognosis and aggravation factors of CKD in Japanese patients, producing solid evidence which will contribute to the development of effective countermeasures against CKD in the near future.