Urine NGAL and KIM-1 in children and adolescents with hyperuricemia

Background

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that urine levels of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) are enhanced in pediatric patients with hyperuricemia.

Methods

The study included 88 children and adolescents (60 males, 28 females) with a median age of 16 (range 11–18.5) years who had been referred to our department to rule out or confirm hypertension. The subjects were divided into two groups: the hyperuricemic (HU) group comprising 59 subjects with hyperuricemia (defined as serum uric acid?>4.8 and?>5.5 mg/dl in girls and boys, respectively) and the reference group comprising 29 patients with normouricemia. Urine NGAL and KIM-1 levels were evaluated using a commercially available kit.

Results

Concentrations of the examined biomarkers urine NGAL, NGAL/creatinine (cr.) ratio, urine KIM-1, KIM-1/cr. ratio] were increased in the HU group compared with the reference group (p?<?0.01). There were positive correlations between the serum uric acid and urine NGAL/cr. ratio (R?=?0.67, p?<?0.001) and the urine KIM-1/cr. ratio (R?=?0.36, p?<?0.001). In the multiple regression models, serum uric acid, systolic blood pressure and cholesterol accounted for more than 49 % of the variation in the NGAL/cr. ratio (R?=?0.702, p?<?0.001). In the second model, serum uric acid, gender, age and systolic blood pressure accounted for more than 36 % of the variation in the KIM-1/cr. ratio (R?=?0.604, p?<?0.001).

Conclusion

We demonstrated that male, obese, hypertensive adolescents with hyperuricemia have higher urine NGAL and KIM-1 levels relative to a reference group with normouricemia.