Precision Medicine Approaches to Renal Osteodystrophy (PMaROD)

June 11, 2026 updated by: Thomas Nickolas
Treatment of renal osteodystrophy is impeded by the lack of practical and accurate tools to determine underlying bone turnover. Gold standard bone biopsy is not practical in the clinic for the vast majority of kidney disease patients and parathyroid hormone and bone alkaline phosphatase have insufficient accuracy for turnover type to safely and confidently guide treatment of renal osteodystrophy. In the present investigation, the investigators will study a microRNA approach as a novel non-invasive biomarker of turnover for renal osteodystrophy.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Renal osteodystrophy (ROD) is a complex disorder of cortical bone quality and strength. Impaired cortical bone is due to the combined actions of elevated parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels and changes in bone hormones as a result of kidney failure. ROD affects nearly all patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and results in cortical bone loss, cortical-type fractures and cardiovascular events. The current goal of ROD treatment, to reduce high bone turnover due to renal hyperparathyroidism, is contraindicated in the presence of low turnover yet reliable ways to determine low turnover status are lacking. The Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) guidelines recommend that treatment is guided by the biomarkers PTH and bone specific alkaline phosphatase (BSAP) and not to treat when turnover is low. However, despite these recommendations, cortical-type fracture incidence has doubled in dialysis patients over the past 25-years, a failure in fracture reduction due in part to PTH and BSAP being developed to identify turnover in trabecular rather than cortical bone. Furthermore, although KDIGO recommends tetracycline-labeled bone biopsy to define turnover and guide treatment, the histomorphometry is also based on analysis of trabecular and not cortical bone, the latter being the primary site of PTH action. Published preliminary data for this proposal suggest that trabecular turnover is a poor surrogate for cortical turnover, with only moderate correlations between bone compartments (R2 59%). Thus, there is an unmet need to identify biomarkers with high diagnostic accuracy and clinical utility for the identification of low cortical turnover, used without or without trabecular turnover, to guide treatment decisions and for use in clinical trials. In published data, the investigators hypothesized that an a priori defined subset of microRNAs (miRNA) that regulate osteoblast (miRNA-30c, 30b, 125b) and osteoclast (miRNA-155) development would be accurate biomarkers of low cortical turnover. In 23 CKD patients with bone biopsies, the areas under the curve for discrimination of low from non- low turnover were 0.866, 0.813, 0.813, and 0.723 for miRNAs-30b, 30c, 125b and 155 respectively, 0.925 for a panel of the 4 four miRNAs combined, while PTH and BSAP, individually and together, did not discriminate in this population. Based on these findings, the central hypothesis is that circulating miRNAs discriminate ROD cortical bone subtype. In a cohort of 90 CKD patients with low, normal, and high turnover (30/group; Aim 1) we will use miRNAseq to identify novel miRNAs that correlate with ROD type and determine if their combination with the preliminary panel enhances discrimination. In 40 ROD patients managed with strategies that change turnover from high to low or low to high (n=20/group; Aim 2), the investigators will determine if changes in histology-based turnover are reflected by changes in the optimized panel and if the circulating miRNA panel mirrors bone-tissue miRNA expression. Then, the investigators will determine if the panel is related to bone quality and strength (Aim 3). The study results will determine if the circulating panel can serve as a biomarker for guiding ROD management. This high impact proposal has the potential to result in a paradigm shift in the non-invasive diagnosis and management of ROD.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
40

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Early Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Missouri
      • St Louis, Missouri, United States, 63110
        • Recruiting
        • Washington University in St. Louis (WashU)
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Thomas L Nickolas, MD, MS
        • Contact:
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

This study will enroll forty adults with moderate to end stage kidney disease, including kidney transplant recipients, who have bone disease in need of treatment.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Study participant has provided informed consent
  2. Age ≥ 18 years
  3. CKD Stages 3-5D regardless of kidney transplantation status
  4. CKD5D patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis for at least 3 months
  5. Clinically indicated treatment for renal hyperparathyroidism, renal osteodystrophy and/or Osteoporosis
  6. PTH, BSAP and CTX meets defined thresholds for low or high turnover ROD type or a Bone biopsy evidence of low or high turnover based

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Currently receiving treatment in an investigational device or drug study, or less than 30 days since ending treatment on an investigational device or drug study(s)
  2. Currently receiving investigational procedures/drugs from another study while participating in this study
  3. Use of etelcalcetide, bisphosphonate, denosumab, teriparatide, abaloparatide or romosozumab during the 6 months prior to study enrollment; however, participant can be included if being treated with bone active agent but will have class change to an agent that will result in a change in bone turnover from low to high or high to low
  4. New use of cinacalcet over the prior 6 months
  5. Use of Zoledronic Acid (Reclast) less than 24 months from study enrollment for patients with eGFR <30mL/minute
  6. Anticipated or scheduled kidney transplant during the study period or less than 1 year from receiving a kidney transplant
  7. For patients with a solid organ transplant, less than 1 year from receiving the transplant
  8. Patient has an unstable medical condition based on medical history, physical examination, and routine laboratory tests, or is otherwise unstable in the judgment of the Investigator
  9. Metabolic bone diseases not related to the kidney (e.g., Paget's, Osteogenesis Imperfecta)
  10. Endocrinopathy (e.g., untreated hyperthyroidism)
  11. Malignancy within the last 5 years (except non-melanoma skin cancers or cervical carcinoma in situ)
  12. Patient is pregnant or nursing
  13. Weight >300 pounds (scanner limitation)
  14. Allergy to tetracycline or demeclocycline
  15. Patients on non-aspirin anticoagulants that cannot be reasonably held for biopsy
  16. Patient unable to complete all protocol-required study visits or procedures, and/or to comply with all required study procedures to the best of the patient and Investigator's knowledge

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Bone-targeted management - prospective cohort
Participants diagnosed with a bone disorder related to chronic kidney disease (CKD) and undergoing a clinically indicated treatment for bone disease. Participants will have some questionnaires, research blood draws, bone scans and a bone biopsy. There will be a total of 4 visits over six months for data collection.
Procedure: miRNAseq analysis
Identify miRNA in serum and prepare a miRNA sequencing library for novel analysis.
Drug: Standard treatment for bone disorder
Participants will be prescribed a clinically indicated bone-targeted treatment for osteoporosis or bone disorder related to CKD. (non-experimental)
Other Names:
  • Clinically indicated treatment for bone disease

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Correlation between miRNA panel to discriminate changes in bone turnover.
Time Frame: Five years
To determine the utility of a miRNA panel to discriminate changes in bone turnover. miRNA sequencing libraries will be prepared using the QIASeq miRNA Library Kit (Qiagen). Total RNA extracted from human serum will be used as the starting material. After a final library cleanup, the miRNA libraries will be QC and quantified using an Agilent Bioanalyzer 2100 and Invitrogen Qubit Fluorometer. The resulting miRNA libraries will be sequenced on an Illumina NextSeq 500 (Illumina, San Diego, CA) with single-end 75 bp read length. The study will then confirm any novel or other miRNA that are present in serum from RNAseq by PCR using TaqMan miRNA Assays (TaqMan MGP probes, FAM dye-labeled) with Applied Biosystems ViiA 7 Real-Time PCR systems. The ΔΔCT method will be used to analyze relative changes in miRNA expression.
Five years
Correlation between a miRNA panel that identifies bone turnover type is able to also identify with bone quality.
Time Frame: Five Years
To utilize the circulating miRNA panel to fully assess bone quality in patients with renal osteodystrophy; whether there is evidence that bone turnover directly affects bone strength through alterations in bone quality.
Five Years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of instances where miRNAs in circulation reflect miRNAs in bone-tissue.
Time Frame: Five Years
The miRNA panel that identifies turnover type in blood will be compared to the miRNAs that are expressed in bone tissue derived from iliac crest bone biopsy.
Five Years
Number of instances where miRNAs in circulation reflect changes in bone, based on bone imaging.
Time Frame: Five Years
Pre- and post-treatment changes in the circulating miRNA profile will be compared to changes in bone imaging by HR-pQCT.
Five Years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Thomas Nickolas

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Indiana University

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Thomas Nickolas, MD, MS, Professor of Medicine at the Columbia University Medical Center, Dept of Medicine Nephrology

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
December 21, 2022

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
June 30, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
June 30, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
May 19, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 26, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
May 30, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
June 12, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
June 11, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 202503010-AAAU1119
  • R01DK134101 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

The investigator is currently not planning on providing IPD to other researchers but may modify his plans in the future. All IPD would be de-identified and provided after justification from the corresponding investigator.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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