ORIGINAL ARTICLE 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 en-hanced 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 commercial-ly 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 correla-tions 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, hyperten-sive adolescents with hyperuricemia have higher urine NGAL and KIM-1 levels relative to a reference group with normouricemia