Prediction of acute kidney injury, sepsis and mortality in children with urinary CXCL10

Background To determine the associations of urinary CXC motif chemokine 10 (uCXCL10) with AKI, sepsis and pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) mortality in critically ill children, as well as its predictive value for the aforementioned issues. Methods Urinary CXCL10 levels were serially measured in 342 critically ill children during the first week after PICU admission. AKI diagnosis was based on the criteria of KDIGO. Sepsis was diagnosed according to the surviving sepsis campaign’s international guidelines for children. Results Fifty-two (15.2%) children developed AKI, 132 (38.6%) were diagnosed with sepsis, and 30 (12.3%) died during the PICU stay. Both the initial and peak values of uCXCL10 remained independently associated with AKI, sepsis, septic AKI and PICU mortality. The AUCs of the initial uCXCL10 for predicting AKI, sepsis, septic AKI and PICU mortality were 0.63 (0.53–0.72), 0.62 (0.56–0.68), 0.75 (0.64–0.87) and 0.77 (0.68–0.86), respectively. The AUCs for prediction by using peak uCXCL10 were as follows: AKI 0.65 (0.56–0.75), sepsis 0.63 (0.57–0.69), septic AKI 0.76 (0.65–0.87) and PICU mortality 0.84 (0.76–0.91). Conclusions Urinary CXCL10 is independently associated with AKI and sepsis and may be a potential indicator of septic AKI and PICU mortality in critically ill children. Impact Urinary CXC motif chemokine 10 (uCXCL10), as an inflammatory mediator, has been proposed to be a biomarker for AKI in a specific setting. AKI biomarkers are often susceptible to confounding factors, limiting their utility as a specific biomarker, especially in heterogeneous population. This study revealed that uCXCL10 levels are independently associated with increased risk for AKI, sepsis, septic AKI and PICU mortality. A higher uCXCL10 may be predictive of septic AKI and PICU mortality in critically ill children.