Multiplex Serum Biomarker Assays Improve Prediction of Renal and Mortality Outcomes in Chronic Kidney Disease

What is it about?

People with kidney disease are at higher risk of progressive loss of kidney function, kidney failure, and early death. Predicting which patients with kidney disease will develop these complications is important to guide appropriate preventive treatments. However, prediction of kidney disease complications is challenging. Proteins present in the blood which are not routinely measured in clinical practice, in this context termed 'biomarkers', can provide additional information which may help to predict risk of complications in people with kidney disease. However, simultaneously measuring several biomarkers is technically challenging. In the present study, we measured 11 blood proteins (biomarkers) in people with kidney disease and recorded which patients developed complications over the following 5 years. The biomarkers helped to predict which patients did and did not develop complications of kidney disease over time. Several of these biomarkers have previously been shown to improve prediction of kidney disease complications, including soluble tumour necrosis factor receptor-1 and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin. Our study sheds light on a new factor, termed complement 3a des-arginine, which adds further predictive value for kidney disease complications. The technology used to measure biomarkers in our study may prove useful for biomarker assessment in clinical practice, although further study is required.

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