Urinary cystatin C as a marker of tubular dysfunction

Abstract

Cystatin C (CysC) is a nonglycosylated 13 KD protein that belongs to the type II cystatin gene family. It is a strong inhibitor of cysteine proteinases, freely filtered by the kidney glomerulus and reabsorbed by the tubulus, where it is almost totally catabolized. Remainder of the nonmetabolized CysC is eliminated in urine and may represent a useful marker of tubular dysfunction. The aim of the study was to confirm the clinical importance of the quantitative determination of CysC by an automated immunonephelometric method (DADE Behring). Two groups of patients were examined: one with glomerular (GD, n=36) and one with tubular dysfunction (TD, n=31), and compared with the control group (CG, n=31) of healthy males and females from laboratory personnel (n=11) and patients on routine systematic examination (n=20), from 25 to 58 years old. The patient groups were categorised according to the urine analysis of total proteins, creatinine and adequate proteins electrophoretic panel. CysC concentration in CG was in the range of 0.02-0.15 mg/L; 0.01-0.48 mg/L and 0.25-18 mg/L in GD and TD groups respectively. Values of means ± SD for patient groups (GD=0.11 ± 0.14; TD=3.92 ± 3.75 mg/L) showed statistical significance (p<0.001) in the TD group in relation to GD and CG groups. It confirms that quantitative determination of CysC in one urine portion, with a fast laboratory method, might be a useful marker of tubular dysfunction, especially in emergency situations, taking into account that there is no interference of circadian variation on its concentration.