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. 2022 May 2;5(5):e2212709.
doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.12709.

Utility of Biomarkers for Sepsis-Associated Acute Kidney Injury Staging

Luca Molinari  1   2 , Gaspar Del Rio-Pertuz  1   3 , Ali Smith  1   4 , Douglas P Landsittel  5 , Kai Singbartl  1   6 , Paul M Palevsky  7   8 , Lakhmir S Chawla  9 , David T Huang  4   10 , Donald M Yealy  10 , Derek C Angus  4 , John A Kellum  1   4   8 ; ProCESS and ProGReSS-AKI Investigators
Collaborators, Affiliations

Utility of Biomarkers for Sepsis-Associated Acute Kidney Injury Staging

Luca Molinari et al. JAMA Netw Open. .

Abstract

Importance: The 23rd Acute Disease Quality Initiative (ADQI-23) consensus conference proposed a framework to integrate biomarkers into the staging of acute kidney injury (AKI). It is unknown whether tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 2 (TIMP-2) and insulinlike growth factor binding protein 7 (IGFBP7) could be used for staging.

Objective: To test whether higher levels of urinary [TIMP-2] × [IGFBP7] are associated with lower survival among patients with the same functional stage of AKI.

Design, setting, and participants: This cohort study was performed using data from the Protocolized Care for Early Septic Shock (ProCESS) trial, which enrolled critically ill patients with septic shock who presented at academic and community emergency departments and intensive care units in the US from March 2008 to May 2013. Patients with end-stage kidney disease, a reference serum creatinine level of 4 mg/dL or greater (to convert to μmol/L, multiply by 76.25), or missing data on serum creatinine levels or urinary levels of [TIMP-2] × [IGFBP7] were excluded. Data were analyzed from October 2020 to October 2021.

Exposures: The presence of AKI, assessed using Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes criteria within 24 hours after enrollment and the highest AKI stage as well as urinary [TIMP-2] × [IGFBP7] level at 6 hours after enrollment. A previously reported high-specificity cutoff level for [TIMP-2] × [IGFBP7] of 2.0 (ng/mL)2/1000 was used to categorize patients (including those without functional criteria of AKI) according to the new staging system proposed by the ADQI-23 as biomarker negative (urinary [TIMP-2] × [IGFBP7] level ≤2.0 [ng/mL]2/1000) or biomarker positive ([TIMP-2] × [IGFBP7] >2.0 [ng/mL]2/1000).

Main outcomes and measures: Survival (assessed using Kaplan-Meier plots and the log-rank test) and mortality (assessed using relative risk [RR] 30 days after enrollment).

Results: The analysis included 999 patients with a median age of 61 years (IQR, 50-73 years); 554 (55.5%) were male. Biomarker-positive patients had lower survival and higher mortality at 30 days in the groups with AKI stage 1 (RR, 2.20; 95% CI, 1.02-4.72), stage 2 (RR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.04-2.27), and stage 3 (RR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.00-2.60). The associations were specific to patients with AKI. No difference in 30-day survival was found between biomarker-positive and biomarker-negative patients in the absence of functional criteria for AKI (RR, 1.16; 95% CI, 0.45-3.01).

Conclusions and relevance: The findings suggest that assessment of the cell-cycle arrest biomarkers TIMP-2 and IGFBP7 may augment AKI staging for patients with functional criteria for AKI.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Ms Smith reported receiving grants from the University of Pittsburgh during the conduct of the study. Dr Singbartl reported having a patent issued by the University of Pittsburgh. Dr Palevsky reported receiving personal fees from Janssen outside the submitted work. Dr Chawla reported receiving personal fees from BioPorto outside the submitted work. Dr Huang reported receiving procalcitonin assay and laboratory training from bioMérieux for a clinical study outside the submitted work. Dr Yealy reported receiving grants from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health (NIH), parent trial during the conduct of the study. Dr Kellum reported receiving grants from the NIH during the conduct of the study; receiving grants, research support, and consulting fees from Astute Medical (now part of bioMérieux) outside the submitted work; and having licensed technology from the University of Pittsburgh unrelated to the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Covariate-Adjusted Survival by New Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) Stage
Adjusted survival curves for the new AKI stages based on whether the product of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 2 × insulinlike growth factor binding protein 7 level was 2.0 (ng/mL)2/1000 or less or greater than 2.0 (ng/mL)2/1000. Details about the definition of stages are in Table 1. Covariates used in the Cox proportional hazards regression models were age, sex, race and ethnicity, and Charlson Comorbidity Index. Dashed lines indicate patients who were biomarker negative, and solid lines indicate those who were biomarker positive.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Covariate-Adjusted Survival Among Patients at Each Functional Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) Stage
Each plot shows patients with the same Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes functional AKI stage discriminating covariate-adjusted survival according to the presence of a tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 2 × insulinlike growth factor binding protein 7 level of 2.0 (ng/mL)2/1000 or less or greater than 2.0 (ng/mL)2/1000. For details about the definition of stages, refer to Table 1. Covariates used in the Cox proportional hazards regression models were age, sex, race and ethnicity, and Charlson Comorbidity Index. Dashed lines indicate patients who were biomarker negative, and solid lines indicate those who were biomarker positive.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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