Urine afamin and afamin–creatinine ratio as biomarkers for kidney injury

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the urine afamin (uAFM) and afamin–creatinine ratio (AfCR) levels in patients with glomerulonephritis. Patients & methods: We determined uAFM and AfCR of 247 healthy volunteers and 129 biopsy-proven glomerulonephritis patients. Results: Analytical evaluation study revealed the assay is a reliable and robust test for measuring uAFM. For reference intervals, uAFM and AfCR values were different significantly between males and females. uAFM and AfCR levels were significantly increased in patients with primary membranous nephropathy, IgA nephropathy and minimal change disease compared with healthy volunteers. uAFM and AfCR were positively correlated with urine albumin and albumin-creatinine ratio, respectively. Conclusion: Our study suggested that uAFM and AfCR may be attractive biomarkers for kidney injury.