Relationship between plasma YKL-40 levels and endothelial dysfunction in chronic kidney disease

Abstract

Aims: We aimed to evaluate relationship between YKL-40 and endothelial dysfunction in chronic kidney disease. Patients/methods: Twenty-nine hemodialysis patients, 101 patients with non-dialytic (stage 2, 3, 4, 5ND) chronic kidney disease (CKD) and 38 healthy individuals as a control group were included. YKL-40 levels were measured with ELISA. Endothelial dysfunction was indirectly measured with Flow-mediated dilatation percentage (FMD) in the brachial artery. Results: YKL-40 levels were higher in CKD patients than controls and highest in HD patients (p=.001). Adversely FMD values were lower in non-dialytic CKD patients and lowest in HD patients (p=.001). YKL-40 negatively correlated with eGFR and FMD values (r=-0,674 and r=-0,471 respectively). Conclusion: This study shows that YKL-40 increases with CKD stage and is negatively correlated with FMD measurements.