The Correlation between Serum Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin and Iron Status in Predialysis Chronic Kidney Disease

Abstract

Background: Chronic Kidney disease “CKD” is a chronic and progressive major health problem affecting a large proportion of the population and it is threatening to reach epidemic proportions over the next decade. A normochromic, normocytic anemia usually accompanies progressive CKD patients, with a reported prevalence of 47.7% among pre-dialysis patients. Human neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL, also known as lipocalin 2, siderocalin or 24p3) was originally isolated from the supernatant of activated neutrophils and identified as a polypeptide covalently bound to gelatinase. The aim of the study was to  evaluate  role of serum  NGAL as biomarker of iron deficiency in CKD patients. Methods: 72 paricipants divided into 2 groups, 36 predialysis CKD patients on conservative treatment (CKD group) and 36 non-CKD participants as a control group. All participants in this study were subjected to full history taken, medical examination and laboratory investigation including CBC, Kidney functions, liver function, “S. Iron, and Serum NGAL) were measured.Results: There was no significant difference between the two groups of the study as regard age, gender and body mass index (BMI) distributions. Regarding kidney functions (Blood urea and serum creatinine) and eGFR distributions, our results showed that there was a statistical significant difference between the studied groups. Serum iron were found to be higher in the control group than in the CKD group. Regarding serum NGAL level, our result showed that serum NGLA was higher in CKD group than in the non-CKD group with a statistical significance. Conclusion: Human neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin is significantly higher when compared with controls and this means that it has an important rule iron metabolism in those patients. Serum NGAL can be a good biomarker for iron status in CKD patients.