Urinary biomarkers of acute kidney injury in patients with liver cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Acute kidney injury is a common complication in cirrhotic patients. Serum creatinine is a poor biomarker for detection of renal impairment in cirrhotic patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate Urinary Neutrophils Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin (NGAL) and Urinary interleukin-18 (IL-18) as early biomarkers of acute kidney injury in cirrhotic patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: 160 cirrhotic patients was enrolled in this study divided into 3 main groups according to presence or absence of ascites and renal impairment.

RESULTS: Significant elevation of both Urinary NGAL and Urinary IL-18 in cirrhotic patients with renal impairment especially in patients with Acute tubular necrosis (ATN) was observed. AUROC was (0.909) with (sensitivity 95.5%, specificity 76.1) for Urinary NGAL and AUROC was (0.975), with (sensitivity 95.5%, specificity 91.3%) for Urinary IL-18.

CONCLUSION: Both Urinary NGAL and Urinary IL-18 can act as urinary biomarkers of acute kidney injury in cirrhotic patient.