Human Epididymis Protein 4 as a Potential Biomarker of Chronic Kidney Disease in Female Patients With Normal Ovarian Function

Background: Elevated serum concentrations of human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) have appeared in a large number of female patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, it is unknow whether HE4 could be a potential biomarker for diagnosis of CKD. Objective: To evaluate whether serum HE4 is a potential biomarker of CKD in our cohort of 238 ethnic Han Chinese female patients, between the ages of 19 and 89 years. Methods: We selected 230 healthy control individuals and 238 female patients with CKD for inclusion in our study. We acquired their demographic characteristics and evaluated their renal function by measuring serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, and uric acid levels. The serum concentrations of HE4 were quantified via chemiluminescence immunoassay. Results: Serum HE4 levels were significantly higher in the patients with CKD compared with controls (P < .001). Meanwhile, HE4 levels showed significant differences among 5 CKD subgroups via multiple comparison (P < .05) and presented significantly better diagnostic value than other indicators. Also, the results of binary logistic regression analysis indicated that HE4 showed significant correlation with the prevalence of CKD (P < .001) and had a larger odds ratio (OR) value. Conclusions: HE4 can serve as a potential biomarker for prediction of CKD and has important reference value for CKD staging.