Urine complement Ba and sepsis-linked kidney injury

Complement Activation in Sepsis

NIH-funded research University of Colorado Denver · NIH-11318928

Researchers will track a urine protein called complement factor Ba in children and adults with sepsis to see whether rising Ba happens before severe kidney injury.

Quick facts

Grant typeNIH-funded research
Study typeNIH-funded research
Funding institutionUniversity of Colorado Denver NIH-funded
Lab location1 site (Aurora, UNITED STATES)
Project IDNIH-11318928 on NIH RePORTER

What this research studies

If you or your child are in the ICU with sepsis, doctors would collect urine over time to measure levels of complement factor Ba and watch for changes before acute kidney injury develops. The team will enroll critically ill children prospectively and follow urine Ba over days to identify when levels peak and whether they predict severe AKI. They will then test those findings using stored samples from large adult sepsis trials to confirm the timing and useful cutoff values. The results are intended to define the best window for future treatment trials that block complement factor B.

Who could benefit from this research

Good fit: Ideal candidates are critically ill children or adults admitted to the ICU with sepsis who can provide urine samples during their hospital stay.

Not a fit: People without sepsis, those with kidney disease unrelated to sepsis, or patients outside participating centers would not be eligible and would not directly benefit from this project.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help identify patients at high risk for sepsis-associated acute kidney injury earlier and support targeted trials of therapies that block complement factor B.

How similar studies have performed: Previous studies have linked urine Ba to AKI risk, but using serial Ba measurements to predict timing of sepsis-associated AKI and to guide complement-inhibitor trials is a new and largely untested approach.

Where this research is happening

Aurora, UNITED STATES

Researchers

About this research

  1. This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
  2. Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
  3. For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.
Last reviewed 2026-06-13 by the Find a Trial editorial team. Information on this page is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Always consult qualified healthcare professionals about clinical trial participation.