BACKGROUND

Iron deficiency anemia is common in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), a biomarker of acute kidney injury, is known to be associated with iron metabolism. We investigated whether plasma NGAL level is associated with iron status in pre-dialysis CKD patients with anemia.

METHODS

This study included 419 patients who had anemia. The subjects were into categorized into a pre-dialysis group (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] <60 ml/min/1.73 m, n = 288) and a non-CKD group (eGFR >60 ml/min/1.73 m, n = 131). The associations between plasma NGAL and iron status (serum ferritin and transferrin saturation [TSAT]), eGFR, albumin, uric acid, total cholesterol, calcium, phosphate, and C-reactive protein (CRP) were assessed.

RESULTS

In non-CKD group, plasma NGAL was not associated with any baseline variables including iron indices (TSAT and serum ferritin). In pre-dialysis group, univariate analysis showed plasma NGAL correlated with eGFR, CRP, TSAT, and serum ferritin. In multivariate analysis, plasma NGAL was independently associated with TSAT. However, serum ferritin lost its association with plasma NGAL. In ROC analysis for identifying iron deficiency, the plasma NGAL (best cut-off value ≤394 ng/ml) was superior to the serum ferritin (suggested cut-off value ≤500 ng/ml) in both sensitivity and specificity.

CONCLUSIONS

Plasma NGAL is associated with iron status in anemic patients with pre-dialysis CKD. Further studies are needed to demonstrate the role of plasma NGAL in assessing the iron deficiency and in guiding the iron therapy for pre-dialysis CKD patients.