The US National Institutes of Health have defined a biomarker as "a characteristic that is objectively measured and evaluated as an indicator of normal biologic processes, pathogenic processes, or pharmacologic responses to a therapeutic intervention." Thus, bio-markers can be powerful tools that have the capacity to shape the diagnosis, management, and prognostic determinants of a disease entity. Biomarkers have long been in existence, with blood pressure measurements representing one of the earliest biomarkers that provided a link between the kidney and cardiovascular systems. The finding that albuminuria and decreased estimated glomerualar filtration rate (eGFR), as indicators of kidney damage and loss of function, respectively, are associated with subsequent cardiovascular disease events supports this link.2 Such evidence lends, at a minimum, prognostic value to these kidney biomarkers for determining fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular and kidney clinical end points, particularly in individuals with diabetic kidney disease.
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