Serum Human Epididymis Protein 4 is a Potential Biomarker for Early Chronic Kidney Disease in an Obese Population

BACKGROUND: At present, it is difficult to clinically diagnose early chronic kidney disease (CKD). As a novel biomarker of malignancies in the female reproductive tract, the human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) has been reported to be significantly expressed in CKD patients. AIM: We sought to assess whether HE4 can be used as a potential biomarker of early-stage CKD. METHODS: The association between serum HE4 levels and CKD was analyzed in a retrospective study. A cohort of 506 patients with diabetic nephropathy who were hospitalized at Weihai Central Hospital, China, from January 2016 to November 2019 were included. RESULTS: Serum HE4 levels were increased with increasing stage of CKD and significantly elevated in patients with CKD3-5 than CKD1-2 (P<0.001). In multivariate linear regression analyses, HE4 levels were strongly correlated with the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in CKD patients (Model 2, P<0.001). HE4 (area under the curve; AUC=0.934) had better diagnostic value than serum creatinine (SCr; AUC=0.770) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN; AUC=0.647) for patients with early-stage CKD (CKD1-2). Additionally, HE4 levels increased with increasing glomerular lesion (GL) and renal interstitial fibrosis (IF)/tubular atrophy (TA) scores in 51 CKD patients (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Serum HE4 levels can be positively associated with the severity of CKD and are a very valuable clinical biomarker for predicting early-stage CKD.