DIAGNOSTIC IMPORTANCE OF LIVER-TYPE FATTY ACID-BINDING PROTEIN AND DICKKOPF-RELATED PROTEIN 3 IN THE PROGRESSION OF CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE

Bakhtawar Farooq, Khawar Khawar Younas, Zahid Habib Qureshi, Mir Mehrab Jan Khetran, Khujasta Gul, Madeeha Shahzad Lodhi

Abstract


Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a growing global health issue throughout the world. Serum biomarkers can improve CKD diagnostics by revealing early kidney damage. Therefore, study aimed to evaluates the potential of L-FABP and DKK3 biomarkers for early detection of CKD.

Materials & Methods: A case-control study was organized among 200 participants in the Nishtar and Ibn-e-Siena Hospitals Multan, Pakistan from January to December 2022. L-FABP and DKK3 biomarkers were assessed via sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Their diagnostic performance was evaluated by receiver–operator curve (ROC) and correlations were analyzed using Pearson coefficient (r). Data were statistically analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Results: The present study encompassed a total of 200 participants, comprising 130 individuals diagnosed with kidney disease and 70 healthy control subjects without any prevalent medical conditions. Serum L-FABP was significantly (p<0.0001) higher among AKI (299 ng/L±103), as that of CKD patients (152 ng/L±40), while DKK3 was higher (p<0.0001) in AKI (21 ng/ml±9.8), and CKD (6.6 ng/ml±2.3), compared to controls. ROC shows excellent CKD detection in both biomarkers (AUC > 0.99). Among CKD stages highest level of serum L-FABP and DKK3 was seen in stage-4 and 5 compared to stage-2 and 3. Correlation results found L-FABP shows a strong positive correlation with DKK3 among cases.

Conclusion: Serum L-FABP and DKK3 are effective biomarkers for early CKD detection, which may help in slowing CKD progression.


Keywords


Biomarkers; Chronic Kidney Disease; Diseases; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Kidney.

Full Text:

PDF

References


Carney EF. The impact of chronic kidney disease on global health. Nat Rev Nephrol. 2020;16(5):251. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-020-0268-7

Groza C, Groppa L, Rotaru L, Răzlog T, Popa S, Sasu D. Chronic kidney disease–a major public health problem. Mold J Health Sci. 2025;12(2):64-70. https://doi.org/10.52645/MJHS.2025.2.09

Imtiaz S, Alam A. Epidemiology and demography of chronic kidney disease in Pakistan—a review of Pakistani literature. Pak J Kidney Dis. 2023;7(1):2-7. https://doi.org/10.53778/pjkd71209

Delanaye P, Pottel H, Cavalier E, Flamant M, Stehlé T, Mariat C. Diagnostic standard: assessing glomerular filtration rate. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2024;39(7):1088-96. https://doi.org/10.1093/ndt/gfad241

Duan S, Lu F, Song D, Zhang C, Zhang B, Xing C, et al. Current challenges and future perspectives of renal tubular dysfunction in diabetic kidney disease. Front Endocrinol. 2021;12:661185. https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2021.661185

Neyra JA, Chawla LS. Acute kidney disease to chronic kidney disease. Crit Care Clin. 2021;37(2):453-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccc.2020.11.013

Ahmad A, Imran M, Ahsan H. Biomarkers as biomedical bioindicators: approaches and techniques for the detection, analysis, and validation of novel biomarkers of diseases. Pharmaceutics. 2023;15(6):1630. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics15061630

Marynissen S, Demeyere K, Daminet S, Meyer E, Chiers K, Paepe D. Tissue expression and urinary excretion of liver-type fatty acid binding protein in older dogs with or without early signs of chronic kidney disease. Vet Pathol. 2025;03009858251315106. https://doi.org/10.1177/03009858251315106

Ostovar T, Rezaei H, Reza JZ. Assessment of the diagnostic validities of serum NGAL, KIM-1, and L-FABP in patients with chronic kidney disease. Int J Basic Sci Med. 2020;5(2):48-53. https://doi.org/10.34172/ijbsm.2020.10

Arjune S, Späth MR, Oehm S, Todorova P, Schunk SJ, Lettenmeier K, et al. DKK3 as a potential novel biomarker in patients with autosomal polycystic kidney disease. Clin Kidney J. 2024;17(1):sfad262. https://doi.org/10.1093/ckj/sfad262

Speer T, Schunk SJ, Sarakpi T, Schmit D, Wagner M, Arnold L, et al. Urinary DKK3 as a biomarker for short-term kidney function decline in children with chronic kidney disease: an observational cohort study. Lancet Child Adolesc Health. 2023;7(6):405-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(23)00049-4

Romagnani P, Remuzzi G, Glassock R, Levin A, Jager KJ, Tonelli M, et al. Chronic kidney disease. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2017;3(1):17088. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrdp.2017.88

Sun T, Qu S, Huang T, Ping Y, Lin Q, Cao Y, et al. Rapid and sensitive detection of L-FABP for prediction and diagnosis of acute kidney injury in critically ill patients by chemiluminescent immunoassay. J Clin Lab Anal. 2021;35(11):e24051. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcla.24051

Zsom L, Zsom M, Salim SA, Fülöp T. Estimated glomerular filtration rate in chronic kidney disease: a critical review of estimate-based predictions of individual outcomes in kidney disease. Toxins. 2022;14(2):127. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins14020127

Yan Z, Wang G, Shi X. Advances in the progression and prognosis biomarkers of chronic kidney disease. Front Pharmacol. 2021;12:785375. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2021.785375

Waikar SS, Sabbisetti V, Ärnlöv J, Carlsson AC, Coresh J, Feldman HI, et al. Relationship of proximal tubular injury to chronic kidney disease as assessed by urinary kidney injury molecule-1 in five cohort studies. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2016;31(9):1460-70. https://doi.org/10.1093/ndt/gfw203

Nakagawa S, Nishihara K, Miyata H, Shinke H, Tomita E, Kajiwara M, et al. Molecular markers of tubulointerstitial fibrosis and tubular cell damage in patients with chronic kidney disease. PLoS One. 2015;10(8):e0136994. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0136994

Kamal HR, Allwsh TA. Evaluating the effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on DKK-3 serum for third-stage chronic kidney patients. Pharmacia. 2024;71:1-6. https://doi.org/10.3897/pharmacia.71.e127441

González Rodríguez J, Valdivielso JM, Jatem Escalante E, Borràs Sans M, García Carrasco A, Del Carpio Salas J, et al. Development of a multiple urinary biomarker model to predict the tubulointerstitial fibrosis area in patients with primary IgA nephropathy. BMC Nephrol. 2025;26(1):141. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12882-025-04049-8




DOI: https://doi.org/10.46903/gjms/23.4.2102

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2025. Bakhtawar Farooq, Khawar Younas, Zahid Habib Qureshi, Mir Mehrab Jan Khetran, Khujasta Gul, Madeeha Shahzad Lodhi

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Gomal Medical College, Daraban Road, Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan

ISSN: 1819-7973, e-ISSN: 1997-2067

Website: https://www.gmcdikhan.edu.pk

Phone: +92-966-747373

Scimago Journal & Country Rank