Online Diagnostics news : Bio Scholar : Lipid Marker Linked to Worsening of Kidney Disease

In patients with mild to moderate kidney disease, measuring levels of a protein called apolipoprotein A-IV (apoA-IV) can accurately predict the long-term risk of progressive loss of kidney function, reports a study in the February Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

"Patients with primary kidney disease would like to know whether they are at risk of disease progression, which often results in renal replacement therapy such as hemodialysis and/or kidney transplantation," comments Dr. Florian Kronenberg of Innsbruck Medical University, Austria, one of the study authors. "Our results show that apoA-IV is an excellent predictor for the progression of kidney disease, adding important and additional information besides the exact determination of kidney function."

The seven-year follow-up study included 177 non-diabetic patients with primary kidney disease classified as mild to moderate, based on glomerular filtration rateâ€"a standard measure of kidney function. At the beginning of the study, the patients underwent detailed analysis of blood lipid levelsâ€"not just cholesterol and triglycerides, but also apolipoproteins, which are proteins that carry lipids including cholesterol through the bloodstream.

During the follow-up period, kidney function worsened in approximately 37 percent of patients. Some lipid measurements differed in patients with progressive kidney disease, including a lower level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ("good" cholesterol); a higher level of triglycerides; and levels of a specific apolipoprotein, termed apoA-IV.

 

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