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. 2024 Nov 25;14(1):29215.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-80321-5.

The association between novel urinary kidney damage biomarkers and coronary atherosclerosis in an apparently healthy population

Yi-Ting Lin  1   2 , Jonas Wuopio  1   3 , Anders Larsson  4 , Andrei Malinovschi  5 , Tobias Feldreich  6 , Gunnar Engström  7 , Tove Fall  8 , Johan Ärnlöv  9   10   11
Affiliations

The association between novel urinary kidney damage biomarkers and coronary atherosclerosis in an apparently healthy population

Yi-Ting Lin et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Several novel urinary kidney damage biomarkers predict the progression of kidney disease. However, the relations of these biomarkers to atherosclerosis, a major consequence of kidney disease, are less studied. Urinary levels of several biomarkers, including kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1), osteopontin, epidermal growth factor, and Dickkopf-3, were assessed in participants enrolled in the Swedish CArdioPulmonary BioImage Study. The study included 9,628 individuals with a mean age of 57.5 years, of which 52.4% were women. The presence of coronary artery stenosis and the coronary artery calcium score (CACS) were determined using coronary computed tomography angiography. To analyze the associations between coronary atherosclerosis and urinary biomarker levels, an ordered logistic regression model adusting for confounding factors was employed. KIM-1 was the only biomarker associated with both coronary stenosis and CACS after adjusting for established cardiovascular risk factors (odds ratio [95% confidence intervals], 1.23[1.05-1.44] and 1.25[1.07-1.47]). These results were consistent in sensitivity analyses of individuals without hypertension, diabetes, or known cardiovascular disease and with normal kidney function. Urinary KIM-1, a specific marker of proximal tubular damage, was robustly linked to coronary atherosclerosis even in apparently healthy individuals, which suggests that the detrimental interplay between the kidney and cardiovascular system begins before clinically overt kidney disease. Additional studies are warranted to evaluate the urinary KIM-1 to predict kidney and cardiovascular disease.

Keywords: Coronary atherosclerosis; Dickkopf-3; Epidermal growth factor; Kidney injury molecule-1; Osteopontin.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: J.Ä. has received lecture fees from Novartis and AstraZeneca, and served on advisory boards for Astella, AstraZeneca and Boehringer Ingelheim, all unrelated to the present paper. All other authors report no conflicts of interest in connection with this study.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The forest plot of odds ratio for the association between kidney damage biomarkers and coronary stenosis defined by coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) and CACS. The analysis utilizes an ordinal regression model in main and subgroup analyses in the full adjustment model (Model 3). The odds ratio for CCTA (95% CI) per 1-SD increment in kidney damage biomarker concentration.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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