Characterising acute kidney injury: The complementary roles of biomarkers of renal stress and renal function

Available online xxxx Purpose: Although epidemiological studies have enhanced our understanding of acute kidney injury, defining the biologic processes corresponding to the clinical phenotype remains challenging. We have examined biomarkers associated with renal stress plus markers of glomerular function to assess whether this approach may aid prediction of AKI or other relevant endpoints. Materials & methods: Urinary [TIMP-2]center dot[IGFBP7], serum creatinine, plasma cystatin C and plasma proenkephalin 119-159 2 were analyzed in patients enrolled in the prospective, international, Sapphire study. Heterogenous critically ill patients (n = 723) were examined with a primary endpoint of development of KDIGO stage 2-3 within 12 h and a secondary endpoint of major adverse kidney events at 30 days (MAKE30). Results: 100 patients (14%) reached the primary endpoint. Markers of renal stress outperformed those associated with glomerular function. Combining [TIMP-2]center dot[IGFBP7] with serum creatinine, but not the other functional markers, significantly (p = 0.02) increased the area under the ROC curve (AUC) from 0.80 (0.76-0.84) to 0.85 (0.81-0.89). In patients who did not develop AKI, all markers of glomerular filtration, but not [TIMP2]center dot[IGFBP7], were significantly elevated in patients with a history of CKD (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The combination of cell-cycle arrest biomarkers, TIMP-2 and IGFBP7, with serum creatinine but not cystatin C or PENK improved risk stratification for the development of stage 2 or 3 AKI over [TIMP-2]center dot[IGFBP7] alone.

Automated summary

This study aimed to evaluate the predictive role of biomarkers associated with renal stress and markers of glomerular function in acute kidney injury (AKI). The results showed that biomarkers of renal stress performed better than those associated with glomerular function. Combining renal stress biomarkers with serum creatinine improved the accuracy of predicting AKI.