Plasma Endogenous Sulfur Dioxide: A Novel Biomarker to Predict Acute Kidney Injury in Critically Ill Patients

PURPOSE: Sulfur dioxide (SO(2)) is a novel gaseous signaling molecule that plays an important role in inflammation, which contributes the pathogenesis of acute kidney injury (AKI). The aim of this study was to explore the predictive value of plasma SO(2) for AKI in high-risk patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective cohort of 167 patients who underwent major noncardiac surgery was enrolled in the study. Plasma SO(2), urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-2 (TIMP-2), and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 7 (IGFBP7) levels were detected immediately after the operation. The primary endpoint was new-onset AKI within 72 h after admission. The ability of biomarkers including SO(2) and a clinical risk model to predict AKI was compared by receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and decision curve analysis (DCA), additional contributions were evaluated by integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) and net reclassification improvement (NRI) analyses. RESULTS: A total of 61 (36.5%) patients developed AKI within 72 h of surgery. Compared to NGAL and [TIMP-2]·[IGFBP7], SO(2) showed better predictive ability for new-onset AKI with an area under the ROC curve of 0.771 (95% confidence interval: 0.700–0.832, p<0.001). The improvement in predictive value by including SO(2) in the clinical risk model was supported by NRI (0.28; P=0.04) and IDI (0.15; P<0.001) analyses. The net benefit of the combination of SO(2) and clinical variables was the max in DCA. CONCLUSION: Plasma SO(2) shows a useful value for predicting new-onset AKI, and improved AKI prediction based on clinical variables, which can guide the implementation of preventive measures for high-risk patients.