Cystatin-C levels in healthy children and adolescents: Influence of age, gender, body mass index and blood pressure

Objectives: Cystatin-C is considered a more sensitive and specific marker of kidney function than creatinine since it can diagnose patients with earlier-stage of renal dysfunction. The aim of this study is to determine the levels of Cystatin-C in healthy children and adolescents as well as any correlations to age, gender, body-mass index (BMI) and blood pressure (BP). Design and methods: Cystatin-C was measured in 536 healthy Greek children and adolescents (295 males and 241 females) using a nephelometric immunoassay. Additionally, the age, body mass index and blood pressure was recorded for each subject. Results: Overall, the mean serum Cystatin-C level was 0.79 +/- 0.10 mg/L. Cystatin-C was found to be statistically significantly lower in females than in males (p < 0.001) as well as in prepubertal children compared to adolescents (p < 0.001). Higher values of Cystatin-C were observed in subjects with increased BMI (p < 0.001). Neither systolic nor diastolic blood pressure was found to significantly affect Cystatin-C levels. Conclusions: The levels of Cystatin-C were statistically significantly higher in males, compared to age matched females and also positively correlated with age and BMI. (C) 2015 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.