Kidney tubule health, mineral metabolism, and adverse events in persons with CKD in SPRINT.

Background Measures of kidney tubule health are risk markers for acute kidney injury (AKI) in persons with chronic kidney disease (CKD) during hypertension treatment, but their associations with other adverse events (AEs) are unknown. Methods Among 2,377 Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) participants with CKD, we measured at baseline eight urine biomarkers of kidney tubule health and two serum biomarkers of mineral metabolism pathways that act on the kidney tubules. Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate biomarker associations with risk of a composite of pre-specified serious AEs (hypotension, syncope, electrolyte abnormalities, AKI, bradycardia, and injurious falls) and outpatient AEs (hyperkalemia and hypokalemia). Results At baseline, the mean age was 73 ±9 years and mean eGFR was 46 ±11 ml/min/1.73m2. During a median follow-up of 3.8 years, 716 (30%) participants experienced the composite AE. Higher urine interleukin-18, kidney injury molecule-1, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), lower urine uromodulin (UMOD), and higher serum fibroblast growth factor-23 were individually associated with higher risk of the composite AE outcome in multivariable-adjusted models including eGFR and albuminuria. When modeling biomarkers in combination, higher NGAL (HR: 1.08 per 2-fold higher biomarker level, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.13), higher MCP-1 (HR: 1.11, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.19), and lower UMOD (HR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.85, 0.97) were each associated with higher composite AE risk. Biomarker associations did not vary by intervention arm (P >0.10 for all interactions). Conclusions Among persons with CKD, several kidney tubule biomarkers are associated with higher risk of AEs during hypertension treatment, independent of eGFR and albuminuria.