Serial urinary neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin in pediatric diabetic ketoacidosis with acute kidney injury

BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) due to Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) is rather common. Novel biomarkers to diagnose AKI are being increasingly used in different settings. The use of urinary Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin (uNGAL) in predicting persistent AKI in pediatric DKA cases is still not thoroughly investigated. METHODS: This was a secondary analysis of Saline versus Plasma-Lyte in Ketoacidosis (SPinK) trial data; 66 children (> 1 month-12 years) with DKA, defined by the International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD), were analyzed. Children with cerebral edema, chronic kidney disease and those who received pre-referral fluids and/or insulin were excluded. uNGAL and urine NGAL-creatinine ratio (uNCR) at 0 and 24 h were measured in all. Persistent AKI was defined as a composite outcome of continuance of AKI defined by the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) stage 2 or 3 beyond 48 h from AKI onset, progression of AKI from either KDIGO stage 0 or 1 to a worse stage, need of renal replacement therapy or death. MAIN OUTCOMES: Thirty-five (53%) children had AKI at admission; 32 (91.4%) resolved within 48 h. uNGAL was significantly higher in the AKI group at admission [79.8 ± 27.2 vs 54.6 ± 22.0, p = 0.0002] and at 24 h [61.4 ± 28.3 vs 20.2 ± 14.5, p = 0.0003]. Similar trend was observed with uNCR at admission [6.7 ± 3.7 vs 4.1 ± 2.6, p = 0.002] and at 24 h [6.3 ± 2.5 vs 1.2 ± 1.0, p = 0.01]. Furthermore, uNGAL at admission showed a moderate positive linear correlation with serum creatinine. Additionally, elevated uNGAL at 0 and 24 h correlated with corresponding KDIGO stages. Admission uNGAL >88 ng/ml and uNCR of >11.3 ng/mg had a sensitivity of 66% and 67%, specificity of 76% and 95%, and Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.78 and 0.89 respectively for predicting persistent AKI at 48 h. CONCLUSIONS: Majority of AKI resolved with fluid therapy. While uNGAL and uNCR both correlated with serum creatinine and AKI stages, serial uNCR was a better predictor of persistent AKI than uNGAL alone. However, feasibility of routine uNGAL measurement to predict persistent AKI in DKA needs further elucidation. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This was a secondary analysis of the data of SPinK trial [CTRI/2018/05/014042 (ctri.nic.in)]. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40842-021-00133-8.