Urine Biomarkers of Kidney Tubule Health, Injury, and Inflammation are Associated with Progression of CKD in Children.

2021

2021 Sep 20

1533-3450

<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>Novel urine biomarkers may improve identification of children at greater risk of rapid kidney function decline, and elucidate the pathophysiology of CKD progression.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>We investigated the relationship between urine biomarkers of kidney tubular health (EGF and -1 microglobulin), tubular injury (kidney injury molecule-1; KIM-1), and inflammation (monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 [MCP-1] and YKL-40) and CKD progression. The prospective CKD in Children Study enrolled children aged 6 months to 16 years with an eGFR of 30-90ml/min per 1.73m. Urine biomarkers were assayed a median of 5 months [IQR: 4-7] after study enrollment. We indexed the biomarker to urine creatinine by dividing the urine biomarker concentration by the urine creatinine concentration to account for the concentration of the urine. The primary outcome was CKD progression (a composite of a 50% decline in eGFR or kidney failure) during the follow-up period.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Overall, 252 of 665 children (38%) reached the composite outcome over a median follow-up of 6.5 years. After adjustment for covariates, children with urine EGF concentrations in the lowest quartile were at a seven-fold higher risk of CKD progression versus those with concentrations in the highest quartile (fully adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 7.1; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 3.9 to 20.0). Children with urine KIM-1, MCP-1, and -1 microglobulin concentrations in the highest quartile were also at significantly higher risk of CKD progression versus those with biomarker concentrations in the lowest quartile. Addition of the five biomarkers to a clinical model increased the discrimination and reclassification for CKD progression.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>After multivariable adjustment, a lower urine EGF concentration and higher urine KIM-1, MCP-1, and -1 microglobulin concentrations were each associated with CKD progression in children.</p>

10.1681/ASN.2021010094

J Am Soc Nephrol

34544821

Association of Multiple Plasma Biomarker Concentrations with Progression of Prevalent Diabetic Kidney Disease: Findings from the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) Study.

2021

115-126

2021 01

1533-3450

<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>Although diabetic kidney disease is the leading cause of ESKD in the United States, identifying those patients who progress to ESKD is difficult. Efforts are under way to determine if plasma biomarkers can help identify these high-risk individuals.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>In our case-cohort study of 894 Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort Study participants with diabetes and an eGFR of &lt;60 ml/min per 1.73 m at baseline, participants were randomly selected for the subcohort; cases were those patients who developed progressive diabetic kidney disease (ESKD or 40% eGFR decline). Using a multiplex system, we assayed plasma biomarkers related to tubular injury, inflammation, and fibrosis (KIM-1, TNFR-1, TNFR-2, MCP-1, suPAR, and YKL-40). Weighted Cox regression models related biomarkers to progression of diabetic kidney disease, and mixed-effects models estimated biomarker relationships with rate of eGFR change.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Median follow-up was 8.7 years. Higher concentrations of KIM-1, TNFR-1, TNFR-2, MCP-1, suPAR, and YKL-40 were each associated with a greater risk of progression of diabetic kidney disease, even after adjustment for established clinical risk factors. After accounting for competing biomarkers, KIM-1, TNFR-2, and YKL-40 remained associated with progression of diabetic kidney disease; TNFR-2 had the highest risk (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.15 to 2.26). KIM-1, TNFR-1, TNFR-2, and YKL-40 were associated with rate of eGFR decline.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>Higher plasma levels of KIM-1, TNFR-1, TNFR-2, MCP-1, suPAR, and YKL-40 were associated with increased risk of progression of diabetic kidney disease; TNFR-2 had the highest risk after accounting for the other biomarkers. These findings validate previous literature on TNFR-1, TNFR-2, and KIM-1 in patients with prevalent CKD and provide new insights into the influence of suPAR and YKL-40 as plasma biomarkers that require validation.</p>

10.1681/ASN.2020040487

J Am Soc Nephrol

33122288

Variability of Two Metabolomic Platforms in CKD.

2018

2018 Dec 20

1555-905X

<p><strong>BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: </strong>Nontargeted metabolomics can measure thousands of low-molecular-weight biochemicals, but important gaps limit its utility for biomarker discovery in CKD. These include the need to characterize technical and intraperson analyte variation, to pool data across platforms, and to outline analyte relationships with eGFR.</p>

<p><strong>DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, &amp; MEASUREMENTS: </strong>Plasma samples from 49 individuals with CKD (eGFR&lt;60 ml/min per 1.73 m and/or ≥1 g proteinuria) were examined from two study visits; 20 samples were repeated as blind replicates. To enable comparison across two nontargeted platforms, samples were profiled at Metabolon and the Broad Institute.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>The Metabolon platform reported 837 known metabolites and 483 unnamed compounds (selected from 44,953 unknown ion features). The Broad Institute platform reported 594 known metabolites and 26,106 unknown ion features. Median coefficients of variation (CVs) across blind replicates were 14.6% (Metabolon) and 6.3% (Broad Institute) for known metabolites, and 18.9% for (Metabolon) unnamed compounds and 24.5% for (Broad Institute) unknown ion features. Median CVs for day-to-day variability were 29.0% (Metabolon) and 24.9% (Broad Institute) for known metabolites, and 41.8% for (Metabolon) unnamed compounds and 40.9% for (Broad Institute) unknown ion features. A total of 381 known metabolites were shared across platforms (median correlation 0.89). Many metabolites were negatively correlated with eGFR at &lt;0.05, including 35.7% (Metabolon) and 18.9% (Broad Institute) of known metabolites.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>Nontargeted metabolomics quantifies &gt;1000 analytes with low technical CVs, and agreement for overlapping metabolites across two leading platforms is excellent. Many metabolites demonstrate substantial intraperson variation and correlation with eGFR.</p>

10.2215/CJN.07070618

Clin J Am Soc Nephrol

30573658