Selected biochemical parameters in the urine of HIV-infected patients in monitoring of kidney function

Abstract

Introduction For years, there has been an increase in the number of cases of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. Renal dysfunction can be caused by direct effects of HIV on the kidneys but also of applied combined antiretroviral therapy (cART). Therefore there is a need of renal function diagnosis to monitor the development of kidney disturbances. In this study the urinary levels of selected low molecular weight proteins (LMWP) in HIV-infected patients were measured and related to current CD4+ T lymphocyte (LT CD4+) count, the glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) value and the applied cART. Material and methods The levels of 5 LMWP – kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1), neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin (NGAL), glutathione S-transferase α (GST-α) and π (GST-π) isoenzymes and neopterin (NPT) – in urine were measured in HIV-infected patients and healthy controls by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results Taking into account the current LT CD4+ count, KIM-1, NGAL and GST-α showed statistically significant differences between groups with the CD4+ count < 500 and ≥ 500 cells (< 0.001). Depending on the eGFR, apart from KIM-1 and NGAL, NPT showed statistically significant differences in the investigated groups with normal and lower eGFR values (< 0.001). In terms of applied cART, the best parameters in the assessment of kidney damage were NGAL, GST-π and NPT (< 0.001). Conclusions This research shows that the analyzed LMWP parameters are useful in the assessment of kidney damage in HIV patients during cART, especially NPT, NGAL and GST-π. However, future studies should be conducted on larger groups.

Keywords

• low molecular weight proteins
• hiv
• cd4+ t lymphocytes
• glomerular filtration rate
• combination antiretroviral therapy