Table 4.
Research studies on biomarkers of inflammation and main outcomes in CKD patients.
| Year | Study Type | Study Population | Biomarker (s) | Study Outcomes | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Prospective cohort | 746 individuals with GFR > 60mL/min/1.73 m2 | serum PTX3 | Higher PTX3 levels are associated with lower GFR and independently predict incident CKD in the elderly | [121] |
| 2016 | Prospective cohort | 3430 patients with reduced eGFR from the CRIC study | plasma IL-6, TNF-α | Elevated plasma levels of TNF-α were associated with rapid loss of kidney function in CKD patients | [108] |
| 2016 | Prospective cohort | 543 patients with stage 5 CKD | plasma IL-6, TNF- α | IL-6 and TNF-a could predict all-cause mortality risk; only IL-6 could classify clinical CVD | [112] |
| 2017 | Prospective cohort | 521 adults with CKD from the C-PROBE and the SKS studies | plasma or serum GDF-15 | Circulating GDF-15 levels were strongly correlated with intrarenal expression of GDF15 and significantly associated with increased risk of CKD progression | [124] |
| 2017 | Prospective cohort | 984 CKD patients stages 1–5 | serum TNFR1, TNFR2 | TNFR1 and 2 were associated with CVD and other risk factors in CKD, independently of eGFR | [117] |
| 2017 | Cross-sectional | 1816 community residents randomly selected from the Dong-gu study | plasma PTX3 | A significantly higher risk of CKD was found in the group with the highest plasma levels of PTX3 when compared to the group with the lowest levels | [136] |
| 2017 | Prospective cohort | 78 stage 5 CKD patients (51 on hemodialysis and 27 on pre-dialysis) | serum PTX3, IL-6, CRP |
In contrast to CRP levels, baseline PTX3 levels predicted CV mortality independently of classic CV risk factors; PTX3 levels also significantly predicted mortality | [123] |
| 2017 | Prospective cohort | 39 ESRD patients under HD and 15 healthy controls | serum cfDNA | ESRD patients had a significantly higher value when compared to controls; cfDNA correlated positively with CRP levels in ESRD patients | [132] |
| 2018 | Prospective cohort | 883 adults at any stage CKD from the SKS or the C-PROBE studies | serum GDF-15 |
Adults with CKD and higher circulating levels of GDF-15 presented greater mortality; elevated GDF-15 was also associated with an increased rate of HF | [126] |
| 2018 | Prospective cohort | 200 patients with T2D | plasma GDF-15 | Higher GDF-15 improved risk prediction of decline in kidney function; in patients with T2D and microalbuminuria, higher GDF-15 was independently associated with all-cause mortality | [137] |
| 2018 | Cross-sectional | 201 patients with CKD and 201 controls | plasma PTX3 | Plasma PTX3 levels were increased in patients with CKD when compared to controls | [138] |
| 2019 | Prospective cohort | 3664 participants with CKD from the CRIC study | plasma GDF-15 | GDF-15 was significantly associated with an increased risk of CKD progression | [125] |
| 2019 | Prospective cohort | 57 CKD patients at stages 3–5 and 19 healthy controls | serum IL-6, TNF- α | TNF and IL-6 were significantly higher in more advanced CKD stages; IL-6, but not TNF- α, was associated with 5-year risk of all-cause mortality in CKD patients | [114] |
| 2019 | Prospective cohort | 318 ESRD patients, undergoing HD and 22 healthy controls | plasma PTX3, IL-6, TNF- α, CRP | When comparing inflammatory mediators, the increase in PTX3 levels was the only predictor of all-cause mortality in dialysis patients | [122] |
| 2019 | Prospective cohort | 124 patients with CKD (stages 1–5) | plasma and urinary cfDNA | No correlations were found between cfDNA levels and CKD staging; higher urinary levels of cfDNA were associated with worse renal outcomes at 6 months | [133] |
| 2020 | Cross-sectional | 219 adult CKD patients (stages 2–5) from the GCKD study | plasma GDF-15 | GDF-15 was significantly elevated in CKD patients and showed a significant inverse correlation with eGFR | [127] |
| 2020 | Cross-sectional | 117 T2D patients and 11 healthy controls | serum and urinary IL-8, IL-18 | Serum and urinary levels of IL-8 and IL-18 were positively correlated with podocyte damage, peritubular dysfunction, and albuminuria, and negatively correlated with eGFR | [115] |
| 2020 | Prospective cohort | 2428 SPRINT participants with CKD | urinary IL-18 | Urinary IL-18 was associated with eGFR decline and may help to detect subtle changes in eGFR | [116] |
| 2020 | Prospective cohort | 160 patients with DN | serum cfDNA | Serum cfDNA levels were significantly negatively associated with the eGFR changes during the follow-up | [134] |
Abbreviations: CKD, chronic kidney disease; C-PROBE, Clinical Phenotyping and Resource Biobank Study; CRIC, Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort; CRP, C-reactive protein; CVD, cardiovascular disease; DN, diabetic nephropathy; eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; GCKD, German Chronic Kidney Disease; GDF-15, growth differentiation factor-15; HD, hemodialysis; HF, heart failure; IL-6, interleukin-6; IL-8, interleukin-8; IL-18, interleukin-18; PTX3, pentraxin-3; SKS, Seattle Kidney Study; SPRINT, Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial; T2D, type 2 diabetes; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor alfa; TNFR, tumor necrosis factor receptor.