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. 2016 Nov 8;12(1):149–173. doi: 10.2215/CJN.01300216

Appendix Table 3.

Biomarker AKI Prognostic Studies

Clinical Settings Authors and Year of Publication Biomarkers Sample Size Study Design Patient Type at Time of Biomarker Measurement Serial Biomarkers End Point Summary of Findings
ICU Parr et al. (62), 2015 uL-FABP, uIL-18, uKIM-1, uNGAL 152 adults Prospective, single-center Stage 1 AKI No Composite outcome was comprised of persistent doubling of sCR (≥2 d), dialysis, and mortality AUCs for predicting composite outcome (uL-FABP 0.79, uIL-18 0.64, uKIM-1 0.62, uNGAL 0.65, and combination of biomarkers 0. 81). Clinical-model AUCs for composite outcome was 0.74; adding uL-FABP to clinical model improved AUC (0.82), NRI (31%) and IDI (0.09).
Pike et al. (73), 2015 IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-18, MMIF, TNFR-I, TNFR-II, DR-5 817 adults Prospective, nested observational cohort, multicenter AKI with RRT No Renal recovery was defined as being alive and independent from RRT by day 60 after hospital discharge; 60-d mortality AUCs for renal recovery (IL-6 0.61, IL-8 0.63, IL-10 0.57, IL-18 0.58, MIF 0.57). Clinical-model AUCs for renal recovery (0.73) and mortality (0.74); Adding IL-8 to clinical model improved the prediction of renal recovery and mortality (AUCs 0.76 and 0.78, respectively). IL-8 improved IDI and NRI for renal recovery and mortality.
Koyner et al. (83), 2015 uTIMP-2*IGFBP7 692 adults Prospective, multicenter No AKI/stage 1 AKI No 9-mo composite endpoint of all-cause mortality and/or RRT UTIMP-2*IGFBP7>2.0 and sCR showed (adjusted HRs of 2.16 and 1.40, respectively) for death or RRT within 9 mo; Clinical model + uTIMP-2*IGFBP7 did not improved AUC (0.70), but did improve NRI by 23% and IDI (0.01).
Koyner et al. (119), 2015 uNGAL, pNGAL, uKIM-1, uIL-18, uTIMP-2*IGFBP7, FST 77 adults Prospective, multicenter Stage 1/stage 2 AKI No Progression to AKIN stage 3, need of RRT, mortality AUCs for prediction of progression to AKI stage 3 (uNGAL 0.65, pNGAL 0.75, uKIM-1 0.63, uIL-18 0.65, uTIMP-2*IGFBP7 0.69, and FST 0.87), Combining FST with uTIMP-2*IGFBP7 resulted in nonsignificant improvement in AUC 0.90. FST (2 h urine output) had AUCs of 0.86 and 0.70 for RRT and mortality.
Dewitte et al. (75), 2015 uTIMP-2*IGFBP7, pNGAL 57 adults Prospective, single-center Stage 1/stage 2/stage 3 Yes (at inclusion and 24 h) Recovery defined as return to sCR<1.5×baseline or 0.35 mg/dl above the baseline with reversal of oliguria within 48 h; major adverse kidney events was defined as death, RRT, or persistence of renal dysfunction (sCR≥200% above baseline) at hospital discharge uTIMP-2*IGFBP7 and pNGAL AUCs for early renal recovery (0.70 and 0.78, respectively); uTIMP-2*IGFBP7 showed good ability to predict major adverse kidney events, with AUC-ROC values close to 0.8; where as pNGAL had AUCs 0.68–0.76. Clinical Model AUC for renal recovery was 0.87; adding uTIMP-2*IGFBP7+pNGAL to clinical model improved AUC (0.89), NRI, and IDI.
Murugan et al. (74), 2014 IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-18, MIF, TNF, TNFR-I, TNFR-II, DR-5, GM-CSF 817 adults Prospective, nested observational cohort, multicenter AKI with RRT No Renal recovery was defined as being alive and independent from RRT by day 60 after hospital discharge; 60-d mortality Increased concentrations of plasma IL-8, IL-18, MIF, and TNFR-I were associated with slower renal recovery and increased mortality.
Aregger et al. (120), 2014 uIGFBP7, pNGAL 64 adults (includes 12 adults as control) Prospective, multicenter Stage 1/stage 2/stage 3 No Predicting early recovery (defined as not classifying for any RIFLE class during 7-d follow-up), RRT, mortality AUCs of uIFGBP-7 for early recovery 0.74, need of RRT 0.65, 30-d mortality 0.65 and in-hospital mortality 0.68. Addition of uIGFBP-7 to clinical model improved prediction of renal recovery from 76.6%–82.1% concordant values (IDI: 0.081±0.04). Clinical Model + uIGFBP-7+pNGAL did not improved AUCs.
Yamashita et al. (121), 2014 uTIMP-2, uNAG, pNGAL, pIL-6 98 adults Prospective, single-center No AKI/stage 1/stage 2 No AKI was defined on the basis of KDIGO criteria; progression of AKI stage (non-AKI to AKI any stage, stage 1–2, stage 2–3) AUCs for prediction of severe AKI: uTIMP-2, 0.80; pNGAL, 0.87; pIL-6, 0.70; uNAG, 0.83; and progression of AKI: uTIMP-2, 0.73; pNGAL, 0.76; pIL-6, 0.74; uNAG, 0.77. uTIMP-2 showed the highest AUCs for 7-d (0.83) and in-hospital mortality (0.74), whereas sCR had AUCs of 0.67 and 0.61, respectively. AUC of the clinical model for severe AKI was 0.87; adding uTIMP-2 to the clinical model improved AUC (0.89), NRI (41%), and IDI (0.04).
Kashani et al. (23), 2013 uTIMP-2*IGFBP7, uKIM-1, IL-18, uL-FABP, uNGAL, pNGAL, pCys-C, π-GST 522 adults (discovery) Prospective, multicenter No AKI/stage 1 AKI No MAKE30 includes death, dialysis and persistent renal dysfunction (sCR ≥ 200% above baseline at hospital discharge) MAKE30 elevated sharply for uTIMP-2*IGFBP7 above 0.30 and doubled for values above 2.0.
728 adults (validation)
Zhang et al. (122), 2012 sCys-C 232 adults Retrospective, single-center AKI with RRT No Renal recovery was defined as dialysis independence and final sCR<50% above baseline value sCys-C showed better performance in predicting renal function recovery than sCR (AUC, 0.87 versus 0.63; P<0.01).
Srisawat et al. (72), 2011 uNGAL, uCys-C, uIL-18, uHGF, uNGAL/MMP-9, and urinary creatinine 76 adults Prospective, multicenter AKI with RRT Yes (days 1, 7, and 14) Renal recovery was defined as alive and free of dialysis at 60 d from the start of RRT AUC for renal recovery: uNGAL, 0.70; uCys-C, 0.61; uIL-18, 0.42; uHGF, 0.74; uNGAL/MMP-9, 0.53; urinary creatinine, 0.66. Clinical model had an AUC of 0.74; clinical model + relative change of uHGF + uNGAL + uCys-C + uNGAL/MMP-9+uIL-18 improved AUC (0.94) and NRI (63.3%).
Lorenzen JM et al. (102), 2011 mRNAs (transcriptome) 77 adults, 30 age-matched controls Prospective, single-center AKI with RRT No Survival 4 wk after initiation of AKI MIR-210 was identified as an independent prognostic factor for 28-d survival with AUC of 0.7 (95% CI, 0.53 to 0.78; P=0.03), PPV 0.41, and NPV 1.0.
Kumpers et al. (123), 2010 pNGAL 109 adults Prospective, single-center AKI with RRT Yes Renal recovery was defined as no need for RRT at day 28 after the study enrollment, mortality AUCs for predicting 14-d mortality: pNGAL, 0.74; cut-off, 360 ng/ml); no association was found between renal recovery and pNGAL.
Cardiac surgery Moledina et al. (124), 2015 pNGAL 1191 adults Prospective, multicenter No AKI Yes (preoperative, 0–6 h, peak 1–3 d postsurgery) All-cause mortality (3-y follow-up) Elevated first preoperative and postoperative pNGAL levels were significantly associated with mortality (adjusted HR, 1.48 and 1.31, respectively; 3rd tertile versus first tertile). No association persists between postoperative NGAL and mortality after adjusting for perioperative sCR changes.
Arthur et al. (22), 2014 uL-FABP, uIL-18, uKIM-1, uNGAL, 32 biomarkers 95 adults Prospective, multicenter Stage 1 AKI No AKI progression was defined as worsening of renal dysfunction (AKIN stage 1 to a higher AKIN stage 2/3) within 10 d or mortality within 30 d; secondary outcome was AKIN stage 3 or death AUCs for primary and secondary outcomes: clinical model, 0.63 and 0.68; uIL-18, 0.74 and 0.89; uL-FABP, 0.67 and 0.85; uKIM-1, 0.73 and 0.81; uNGAL, 0.72 and 0.83. Combination of uIL-18 and uKIM-1 improves prediction of AKIN-3 or death with an AUC of 0.93.
Coca et al. (82), 2014 uL-FABP, uIL-18, uKIM-1, uNGAL, albumin 1199 adults Prospective, multicenter No AKI Yes (preoperative, 0–6 h postoperative, daily for up to 5 d) 3-y mortality Among patients with AKI, adjusted HRs for 3-year mortality for individual urinary biomarkers were: uNGAL, 2.52; uIL-18, 3.16; uKIM-1, 2.01; uL-FABP, 2.35 and urine albumin 2.85 (highest tertile versus lowest tertile). Addition of uIL-18, uL-FABP, and uKIM-1 to clinical model did not change AUC (0.69–0.71), but improved NRI (44%, 44%, and 18%, respectively).
Meersch et al. (125), 2014 uTIMP-2*IGFBP7, pNGAL 50 adults Prospective, single-center No AKI Yes (preoperative, 4 h, 12 h, and 24 h after CPB) Renal recovery was defined as sCR value at hospital discharge equal to or lower than the preoperative creatinine value AUCs for prediction of renal recovery for uTIMP-2*IGFBP7 was 0.79. Combination of NGAL and uTIMP-2*IGFBP7 did not improve AUC.
Alge et al. (21), 2013 Urinary angiotensinogen 97 adults Prospective, single-center Stage 1 AKI No Progression to a higher AKIN stage, AKIN stage 3, RRT, mortality uAnCR AUCs for worsening of AKI (0.70), AKIN stage 3 (0.71), RRT (0.71), AKIN 3 or mortality (0.75) and RRT or mortality (0.71). Prognostic predictive power of uAnCR was improved when only patients with AKIN stage 1 were analyzed. Adding uAnCR to clinical model improved prediction of worsening of AKI (NRI, 45.7%).
Kidney transplant Hall et al. (126), 2010 uNGAL, IL-18, KIM-1 91 adults Prospective, single-center Transplant Yes (0 h, 6 h, 12 h, 18 h, 1st, and 2nd postoperative day) Graft recovery was defined in three categories: DGF, SGF, and IGF; RRT within 1 wk of kidney transplant AUCs for predicting dialysis: uNGAL 0.82, IL-18 0.82; whereas KIM-1 had poor prediction (AUC 0.50); Clinical model + uNGAL+ IL-18 did improve reclassification by 110% (P<0.001).
Reese et al. (127), 2015 uNGAL, uKIM-1, uIL-18, uL-FABP, urinary microalbumin 2441 adults Prospective, multicenter Transplant No DGF was defined as a requirement for RRT within 7 d after transplant, 6-mo eGFR High donor uNGAL levels were significantly associated with recipient DGF with RR 1.21 (highest versus lowest tertiles). Addition of urinary biomarkers does not improve AUC, IDI, and NRI. At 6-mo, donor urinary biomarkers added minimal value in predicting recipient allograft function.
Pianta et al. (128), 2015 uTIMP-2*IGFBP7, VEGF-A, MMIF, MCP-1, TFF3, CXCL16, sCR 56 adults Prospective, single-center Transplant Yes (4 h, 8 h, and 12 h) DGF was defined as requirement for RRT within 7 d AUCs for predicting DGF: uTIMP-2*IGFBP7, 0.76; VEGF-A, 0.81; uTIMP-2, 0.73; and uIGFBP7, 0.71; whereas sCR showed poor prediction for DGF (AUC 0.56). Clinical model AUC for DGF was 0.70; adding TIMP-2 (0.81 and 0.11) and VEGF-A (0.85 and 0.19) separately to clinical model improved AUC and IDI.
Hospitalized Wang et al. (129), 2015 uL-FABP 114 adults Prospective, single-center Stage 3 AKI No Recovery was defined as alive and neither requiring RRT nor having persistent AKIN 3 with a minimum crcl of 20 mL/min at hospital discharge AUCs for renal recovery: uL-FABP, 0.91; sensitivity, 85.5; and specificity, 86.4% for cut-off 102.1 ng/mg). uL-FABP modestly predicted hospital death (AUC, 0.83) and RRT (AUC, 0.71). u-FABP improved renal recovery classification compared with clinical model (NRI, 35%; P=0.02)
Westhoff et al. (130), 2015 uTIMP-2*IGFBP7 46 children Prospective, single-center Stage 1/stage 2/stage 3 No Predicting mortality and need of RRT AUCs for 30-d and 90-d mortality: uTIMP-2*IGFBP7, 0.79 and 0.84, respectively). AUC for RRT was 0.67.
Singer et al. (63), 2011 uNGAL 145 adults Prospective, single-center Stage 1/stage 2/stage 3 No Progression to a higher AKIN stage, dialysis, mortality within 7 d of ICU admission; type of AKI uNGAL had an AUC of 0.71 (95% CI, 0.62 to 0.8), as compared with sCR level, which had an AUC of 0.61 (95% CI, 0.51 to 0.71).
Srisawat et al. (89), 2011 pNGAL 189 adults Prospective, multicenter Stage 3 No Recovery was defined as alive and not requiring RRT during hospitalization and nor having a persistent RIFLE-F classification at hospital discharge pNGAL AUCs for renal recovery was 0.74. Clinical model + pNGAL did not improve AUC, but did improve NRI by 17%.
Cirrhosis Belcher et al. (24), 2014 uL-FABP, uIL-18, uKIM-1, uNGAL 188 adults Prospective, multicenter Stage 1/stage 2/stage 3 Yes (daily for 3 d) Progression to a higher AKIN stage, dialysis, mortality AUCs for AKI progression and death: uL-FABP, 0.76; uIL-18, 0.71; uKIM-1, 0.66; uNGAL, 0.77. IL-18 independently improved NRI (51%).
Heart Failure Verbrugge et al. (131), 2013 uIL-18, uKIM-1, uNGAL 83 adults Prospective, single-center No AKI No Persistent renal impairment was defined as persistently elevated sCR levels (≥0.3 mg/dl) after 6 mo compared with baseline; all-cause mortality uIL-18 was a predictor of persistent renal impairment with an AUC of 0.67. uIL-18 was also associated with all-cause mortality (HR 1.48).

uL-FABP, urinary liver-type fatty acid–binding protein; uIL-18, urinary IL-8; uKIM-1, urinary kidney injury molecule-1; uNGAL, urinary neutrophil gelatinase–associated lipocalin; sCR, serum creatinine; AUC, area under curve; NRI, net-reclassification index; IDI, integrated discrimination improvement; MMIF, macrophage migration inhibitory factor; TNFR-I, TNF receptor 1; TNFR-II, TNF receptor II; DR-5, death receptor-5; MIF, migration inhibitory factor; uTIMP-2, urinary tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2; IGFBP7, IGF-binding protein 7; pNGAL, plasma neutrophil gelatinase–associated lipocalin; uIL-18, urinary IL-18; FST, furosemide stress test; AKIN, Acute Kidney Injury Network; AUC-ROC, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve; GM-CSF, granulocyte macrophage stimulating factor; RIFLE, risk, injury, failure, loss of kidney function, and ESRD; uIGFBP7, urinary IGF-binding protein 7; uNAG, urinary n-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase; pIL-6, plasma IL-6; KDIGO, Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes; pCys-C, plasma cystatin-C; π-GST, π-glutathione s-transferase; MAKE, major adverse kidney events; sCys-C, serum cystatin-C; uHGF, urinary hepatocyte growth factor; MMP-9, matrix metalloproteinase-9; NPV, negative predictive value; CPB, cardio-pulmonary bypass; HR, hazard ratio; NGAL, neutrophil gelatinase–associated lipocalin; uAnCR, urinary-angiotensinogen-creatinine ratio; DGF, delayed graft function; SGF, slow graft function; IGF, immediate graft function; KIM-1, kidney injury molecule-1; RR, relative risk; VEGF-A, vascular endothelial growth factor-A; MCP-1, monocyte chemotactic protein 1; TFF3, trefoil factor 3; CXCL16, chemokine (c-x-c motif) ligand 16; TIMP-2, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2; crcl, creatinine clearance; ICU, intensive care unit.