Serum chemokine IL-8 acts as a biomarker for identifying COVID-19-associated persistent severe acute kidney injury

• Published in: Renal failure Vol. 46; no. 1; p. 2311316
• Main Authors: He, Zhi, Liu, Jing-jing, Ma, Shao-lei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis Ltd 01.12.2024; Taylor & Francis; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: acute kidney injury; Acute Kidney Injury - diagnosis; Acute Kidney Injury - etiology; biomarker; Biomarkers; Chemokines; Clinical outcomes; Clinical Study; COVID-19; COVID-19 - complications; COVID-19 - diagnosis; Creatinine; Humans; IL-8; Interferon-inducible protein; Interleukin 8; IP-10; IP-10 protein; Kidneys; Ligands; Plasma levels; Prospective Studies; covid-19; acute kidney injury; IL-8; IP-10; biomarker
• ISSN: 0886-022X; 1525-6049; 1525-6049
• DOI: 10.1080/0886022X.2024.2311316

Persistent severe acute kidney injury (PS-AKI) is associated with poor clinical outcomes. Our study attempted to evaluate the diagnostic value of chemokines for early-stage PS-AKI prediction. According to the KDIGO criteria, 115 COVID-19 patients diagnosed with stage 2/3 AKI were recruited from the intensive care unit between December 2022 and February 2023. Primary clinical outcomes included detecting PS-AKI in the first week (≥ KDIGO stage 2 ≥ 72 h). Cytometric Bead Array was used to detect patient plasma levels (interleukin-8 (IL-8), C-C chemokine ligand 5 (CCL5), chemokine (C-X-C Motif) ligand 9 (CXCL9), and interferon-inducible protein 10 (IP-10)) of chemokines within 24 h of enrollment. Of the 115 COVID-19 patients with stage 2/3 AKI, 27 were diagnosed with PS-AKI. Among the four measured chemokines, only the IL-8 level was significantly elevated in the PS-AKI group than in the Non-PS-AKI group. IL-8 was more effective as a biomarker while predicting PS-AKI with an area under the curve of 0.769 (0.675-0.863). This was superior to other biomarkers related to AKI, including serum creatinine. Moreover, plasma IL-8 levels of >32.2 pg/ml on admission could predict PS-AKI risk (sensitivity = 92.6%, specificity = 51.1%). Additionally, the IL-8 level was associated with total protein and IL-6 levels. Plasma IL-8 is a promising marker for the early identification of PS-AKI among COVID-19 patients. These findings should be validated in further studies with a larger sample size.