Carbamylated hemoglobin can differentiate acute kidney injury from chronic kidney disease

Carbamylated hemoglobin (CarHb) was found to have a potential role in the differentiation of patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) from chronic kidney disease (CKD). This study was aimed at the evaluation of the diagnostic performance and usefulness of CarHb in the differentiation of AKI from CKD. Forty patients with renal disease and twenty age- and sex-matched healthy controls were included in the study. Urea, creatinine, Hb, and CarHb were measured in all the subjects. Patients with AKI and CKD were found to have significantly increased levels of CarHb when compared to controls (P < 0.05 for both groups). Patients with CKD had significantly increased levels of CarHb when compared to patients with AKI (P < 0.05). CarHb showed significant positive correlation with urea in patients with renal disease (r = 0.776, P < 0.0001). Significant area under curve (AUC = 0.840, P < 0.0001) was obtained for CarHb and a cut-off value of 98.33 μg VH/g Hb resulted with the best combination of 85% sensitivity and 75% specificity. CarHb may provide clinical utility since patients with AKI and CKD have similar clinical presentation usually. A cut-off value of 98.33 μg VH/g Hb has been found to be useful to differentiate AKI from CKD