Soluble CD14 and osteoprotegerin associate with ankle-brachial index as a measure of arterial stiffness in patients with mild to moderate chronic kidney disease in a five-year prospective study.

Introduction Vascular lesions and arterial stiffness appear at early stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and follow an accelerated course with disease progression, contributing to high cardiovascular mortality. There are limited prospective data on mechanisms contributing to progression of arterial stiffness in mild to moderate CKD (stages 2-3). Methods We applied an affinity proteomics approach to identify candidates of circulating biomarkers with potential impact on vascular lesions in CKD and selected soluble cluster of differentiation 14 (sCD14), angiogenin (ANG) and osteoprotegerin (OPG) for further analysis. We studied their association with Ankle-brachial index (ABI) and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), as measures of arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis respectively, in 48 patients with CKD stages 2-3, who were prospectively followed and intensively treated for five years, and 44 healthy controls. Results Concentrations of both sCD14 (p<0.001), ANG (p<0.001) and OPG (p<0.05) were higher in patients with CKD 2-3 at baseline, and sCD14 (p<0.001) and ANG (p<0.001) remained elevated in CKD patients at follow-up. There were positive correlations between ABI and sCD14 levels (r=0.36, p=0.01) and between ABI and OPG (r=0.31, p=0.03) at five years. The changes in sCD14 during follow-up correlated to changes in ABI from baseline to five years (r=0.41, p=0.004). Conclusion Elevated levels of circulating sCD14 and OPG in patients with CKD 2-3 were significantly associated with ABI, a measure of arterial stiffness. An increase in sCD14 over time in CKD 2-3 patients was associated with a corresponding increase in ABI. Further studies are needed to examine if early intensive multifactorial medication to align with international treatment targets may influence cardiovascular outcomes.