α-Klotho,namedaftertheGreekGoddessofFate,Clotho,whospinsthethreadoflife,wasoriginallycharacterizedasanagingsuppressorgene.OurELISAisperfectlysuitedforthemeasurementoftheproductofthisgene-theα-Klothoprotein.α-Klothoisalsoknownasthemessengerofhealthybodies(FantuzziGFrontImmunol.2014Jul21;5:351).

Adefectinklothogeneexpressioninthemouseresultsinasyndromethatresembleshumanageing,includingashortLifespan,infertility,arteriosclerosis,skinatrophy,osteoporosisandemphysema.Theabsenceofα-Klotholeadstoasubstantiallylowerbonedensitythanusual(Kuro-oMetal.Nature.1997Nov6;390(6655):45-51).

Sincethediscoveryofα-Klotho,whichwasdescribedinthepublicationmentionedabove,severalresearchareashaveemergedwhichbenefitfromthedeterminationofα-Klothointermsofgainingvaluableadditionalinformation:

• Bonemetabolism
• Agingprocesses
• Nephrology
• Immunology,etc.

α-KlothoandFGF23arethemainmediatorsofcalciumandphosphatehomeostasis.Anykindofdisturbanceinthisregard,suchasareducedorincreasedproductionofα-Klotho,leadstometabolicbonedisorders(JohnGBetal.AmJKidneyDis.2011Jul;58(1):127-34).

Itisalreadyknownthatα-Klotholevelsinblooddecreasewithage(YamazakiYetal.BiochemBiophysResCommun.2010Jul30;398(3):513-8).Lowα-klotholevelsareoftenassociatedwithage-relateddiseases.

Theoutcomesofresearchintheareasofbonemetabolismandaging,aswellasthefactthatα-Klothoisproducedexclusivelyinthekidneysandbrain,havepromptedinvestigationsintotheimpactofchangesinα-Klotholevelsinrenaldisease.Studieshaverevealedthatα-klotholevelsaresignificantlydecreasedintheserumalreadyatanearlystageinchronickidneydisease(PavikIetal.NephrolDialTransplant.2013Feb;28(2):352-9).Sincechronickidneydiseasefrequentlyoccurssecondarytoothermedicalconditions,α-KlothoisreceivingincreasingattentionasaMarkeroftheoccurrenceofchronickidneydiseaseinprimarydiseasessuchastype2diabetes(LeeEYetalPLoSOne.2014Aug1;9(8):e102984),wherebythesamplematerialshouldbenoted(seeimagebelow).

FurThermore,α-Klothoisgainingincreasingattentionasaplayerinmanyimmunologicalprocesses,whichisreflectedintheincreaseofpublicationsonα-Klotho.

Separatecontrolsetavailableonrequest