PERL study will explore the potential of allopurinol to delay or halt kidney disease in people with type 1 diabetes.

As part of its research strategy aimed at preventing and treating type one diabetes (T1D) complications, Breakthrough T1D is funding critical research into possible ways to reduce kidney problems for people with the disease.

Breakthrough T1D has partnered with the National Institutes of Health in funding an exciting new clinical trial that could lead to better health for people with T1D who suffer from kidney disease. The study “Preventing Early Renal Loss in Diabetes” or “PERL” is led by a consortium of research centers across North America and in Europe. The University of Michigan is one of the designated centers participating in this new trial.

The University of Michigan Health System Metabolism, Endocrinology & Diabetes (UMHS MEND) clinic is located in N.E. Ann Arbor in Lobby G of the Dominos Farms complex at 24 Frank Lloyd Wright Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48105.

Up to one-third of people with T1D develop kidney abnormalities, and although glucose and blood pressure control has improved in the last two decades, diabetic kidney disease is still an all-too-common serious complication of T1D.

To address the major problem of kidney disease in people with diabetes, Alessandro Doria, M.D., Ph.D., at the Joslin Diabetes Center formed a network of scientists from eight research centers around the world, including UMHS MEND, known as the Preventing Early Renal Function Loss in Diabetes (PERL) Consortium.

The PERL Consortium has designed a large clinical trial targeting T1D patients with signs of initial kidney disease, to examine the potential benefit of allopurinol—a nearly 50-year-old drug, currently used to treat gout, that lowers uric acid, high levels of which correlate to progression of kidney disease. Breakthrough T1D funded an earlier pilot study of allopurinol that laid the foundation for this larger study, funded by the National Institutes of Health through the Special Diabetes Program, with continued support and involvement from Breakthrough T1D scientists.

Should the PERL study demonstrate allopurinol’s effectiveness in slowing or stopping the loss of kidney function in people with T1D, it could be a major step toward preventing or delaying kidney failure in those who show early signs of kidney damage. Given the availability, low cost and safety of the drug, a tangible treatment for people with T1D could follow in the study’s footsteps.

For more information on the PERL study visit: ClinicalTrials.gov: Allopurinol to Prevent Kidney Function Loss in T1D and/or perl-study.org/.