Low-dose methotrexate and serious adverse events among older adults with chronic kidney disease
Muanda FT, Blake PG, Weir MA, Ahmadi F, McArthur E, Sontrop JM, Urquhart BL, Kim RB, Garg AX. JAMA Netw Open. 2023; 6(11):e2345132. Epub 2023 Nov 27.
Background — Higher levels of plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (pNGAL) are an early marker of acute kidney injury and are associated with increased risk of short-term adverse outcomes. The independent association between pNGAL and long-term mortality is unknown.
Methods — In this prospective observational cohort study, we studied 1191 adults who underwent cardiac surgery between 2007 and 2009 at 6 centers in the TRIBE-AKI cohort. We measured the pNGAL on the pre-operative and first 3 post-operative days and assessed the relationship of peri-operative pNGAL concentrations with all-cause mortality.
Results — During a median follow-up of 3.0 years, 139 participants died (50/1000 person-years). Pre-operative levels of pNGAL were associated with 3-year mortality (unadjusted HR 1.96, 95% CI 1.34,2.85) and the association persisted after adjustment for pre-operative variables including estimated glomerular filtration rate (adjusted HR 1.48, 95% CI 1.04-2.12). After adjustment for pre- and intra-operative variables, including pre-operative NGAL levels, the highest tertiles of first post-operative and peak post-operative pNGAL were also independently associated with 3-year mortality risk (adjusted HR 1.31, 95% CI 1.0-1.7 and adjusted HR 1.78, 95% CI 1.2-2.7, respectively). However, after adjustment for peri-operative changes in serum creatinine, there was no longer an independent association between the first post-operative and peak post-operative pNGAL and long-term mortality (adjusted HR 0.98,95% CI 0.79-1.2 for first pNGAL and adjusted HR 1.19, 95% CI 0.87-1.61 for peak pNGAL).
Conclusions — Pre-operative pNGAL levels were independently associated with 3-year mortality after cardiac surgery. While post-operative pNGAL levels were also associated with 3-year mortality, this relationship was not independent of changes in serum creatinine. These findings suggest that while pre-operative pNGAL adds prognostic value for mortality beyond routinely available serum creatinine, post-operative pNGAL measurements may not be as useful for this purpose.
Moledina DG, Parikh CR, Garg AX, Thiessen-Philbrook H, Koyner JL, Patel UD, Devarajan P, Shlipak MG, Coca SG, TRIBE-AKI Consortium. PLoS One. 2015; 10(6):e0129619.
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