Growth differentiation factor 15 is decreased by kidney transplantation

Increased Pretransplant Inflammatory Biomarkers Predict Death With Function After Kidney Transplantation

BACKGROUND

Chronic systemic inflammation is associated with mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between pretransplant inflammatory biomarkers (growth differentiation factor-15 [GDF-15], interleukin-6 [IL-6], soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor-1, monokine induced by gamma interferon/chemokine [C-X-C motif] ligand 9 [MIG/CXCL9], monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, soluble FAS, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-15, and interleukin-1β) and death with function (DWF) after kidney transplantation (KT).

METHODS

We retrospectively measured inflammatory biomarker levels in serum collected up to 1 y before KT (time from blood draw to KT was 130 ± 110 d) in recipients transplanted between January 2006 and December 2018. Kaplan-Meier estimation, Cox regression, and Gradient Boosting Machine modeling were used to examine the relationship between inflammatory biomarkers and DWF.

RESULTS

Our cohort consisted of 1595 KT recipients, of whom 62.9% were male and 83.2% were non-Hispanic White. Over a mean follow-up of 7.4 ± 3.9 y, 21.2% of patients (n = 338) experienced DWF. Patients with the highest quartile levels of GDF-15 (>4766 pg/mL), IL-6 (>6.11 pg/mL), and MIG/CXCL9 (> 5835 pg/mL) had increased rates of DWF, and each predicted mortality independently of the others. When adjusted for clinical factors (age, diabetes, etc), the highest quartile levels of GDF-15 and IL-6 remained independently associated with DWF. Adding inflammatory markers to a clinical Cox model improved the C-statistic for DWF from 0.727 to 0.762 using a Gradient Boosting Machine modeling approach.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that pre-KT serum concentrations of GDF-15, IL-6, and MIG/CXCL9 may help to risk stratify and manage patients undergoing KT and suggests that chronic inflammation may play a role in mortality in KT recipients.

Obesity and the kidney: mechanistic links and therapeutic advances

Obesity is strongly associated with the development of diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease (CKD), but there is evidence for a bidirectional relationship wherein the kidney also acts as a key regulator of body weight. In this Review, we highlight the mechanisms implicated in obesity-related CKD, and outline how the kidney might modulate feeding and body weight through a growth differentiation factor 15-dependent kidney-brain axis. The favourable effects of bariatric surgery on kidney function are discussed, and medical therapies designed for the treatment of diabetes mellitus that lower body weight and preserve kidney function independent of glycaemic lowering, including sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors, incretin-based therapies and metformin, are also reviewed. In summary, we propose that kidney function and body weight are related in a bidirectional fashion, and that this interrelationship affects human health and disease.

Implication of serum growth differentiation factor-15 level in patients with renal diseases

BACKGROUND

The synthesis of growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) is induced by inflammation, hypoxia, and oxidative stress and is receiving great interest as a predictive biomarker for cardiovascular disease. However, its detailed impact on patients with renal disease remains uncertain.

METHODS

Patients who underwent renal biopsy for evaluation of renal disease between 2012 and 2017 in our institute were prospectively included. Serum GDF-15 levels were measured and its association with baseline characteristics and its impact on the 3-year composites of renal prognosis (composites of > 1.5 folds of serum creatinine and renal replacement therapy) were investigated.

RESULTS

A total of 110 patients (64 [42, 73] years old, 61 men) were included. The median serum GDF-15 level at baseline was 1885 (998, 3496) pg/mL. A higher serum GDF-15 level was associated with comorbidities including diabetes mellitus, anemia, renal impairment, and pathologic features including crescent formation, hyaline degeneration, and interstitial fibrosis (p < 0.05 for all). Serum GDF-15 level was a significant predictor of 3-year composite renal outcomes with an odds ratio per 100 pg/mL of 1.072 (95% confidence interval 1.001-1.103, p = 0.036) after adjustment for potential confounders.

CONCLUSIONS

Serum GDF-15 levels were associated with several renal pathological features and renal prognosis in patients with renal diseases.

Cardiac markers and cardiovascular disease in chronic kidney disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is prevalent in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and it is responsible for approximately half of all CKD-related deaths. CVDs are the primary cause of death in hemodialysis patients due to major adverse cardiovascular events. Therefore, better approaches for differentiating chronic hemodialysis patients at higher cardiovascular risk will help physicians improve clinical outcomes. Hence, there is an urgent need to discover feasible and reliable cardiac biomarkers to improve diagnostic accuracy, reflect myocardial injury, and identify high-risk patients. Numerous biomarkers that have significant prognostic value with respect to adverse CVD outcomes in the setting of mild to severe CKD have been identified. Therefore, a better understanding of the positive clinical impact of cardiac biomarkers on CVD patient outcomes is an important step toward prevention and improving treatment in the future. In this review, we address the relationship between cardiovascular biomarkers and CKD treatment strategies to elucidate the underlying importance of these biomarkers to patient outcomes.

Prognostic value of Growth differentiation factors 15 in Acute heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction

AIMS

There is an increasing proportion of hospitalized heart failure (HF) patients classified as HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) around the world. Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) is a promising biomarker in HFpEF prognostication; however, the majority of the existing data has been derived from the research on undifferentiated HF, whereas the studies focusing on HFpEF are still limited. This study aimed to determine the prognostic power of GDF-15 in the hospitalized patients with HFpEF in a Chinese cohort.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We analysed the levels of serum GDF-15 in 380 patients hospitalized for acute onset of HFpEF measured by heart ultrasound at admission in a prospective cohort. The associations of GDF-15 with 1 year risk of all-cause death and 1 year HF readmission were assessed by the Cox proportional hazards model. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curves was used to compare predictive accuracy. GDF-15 was strongly correlated with 1 year HF readmission and 1 year all-cause death, with event rates of 24.8%, 40.0%, and 50.0% for 1 year HF readmission (P < 0.001), respectively, and with 11.2%, 13.6%, and 24.6% for 1 year all-cause death (P = 0.004) in the corresponding tertile, respectively. In the multivariate linear regression model, GDF-15 had a significantly negative correlation with haemoglobin (P = 0.01) and a positive correlation with creatinine (P = 0.01), alanine transaminase (P = 0.001), and therapy of aldosterone antagonist (P = 0.018). The univariate Cox regression model of GDF-15 showed that c-statistic was 0.632 for 1 year HF readmission and 0.644 for 1 year all-cause death, which were superior to the N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) model with c-statistics of 0.595 and 0.610, respectively. In the multivariable Cox regression model, GDF-15 tertiles independently predicted 1 year HF readmission (hazard ratio 2.25, 95% confidence interval: 1.43-3.54, P < 0.001) after adjusting for baseline Acute Study of Clinical Effectiveness of Nesiritide in Decompensated Heart Failure (ASCEND-HF) risk score, history of HF, NT-proBNP, and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T. Compared with the model including all the adjusted variables, the model with the addition of GDF-15 improved predictive power, with c-statistic increasing from 0.643 to 0.657 for 1 year HF readmission and from 0.638 to 0.660 for 1 year all-cause death.

CONCLUSIONS

In hospitalized patients with HFpEF, GDF-15 measured within 48 h of admission is a strong independent biomarker for 1 year HF readmission and even better than NT-proBNP. GDF-15 combined with the traditional indicators provided incremental prognostic value in this population.

Growth Differentiation Factor 15 Is Superior to Troponin I in the Evaluation of Kidney Transplant Candidates

INTRODUCTION

Pretransplant cardiac troponin I (cTNI) has demonstrated its predicting value in survival after kidney transplant. Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) is a biomarker currently studied as a predictor of mortality and cardiovascular events (CVE) in different scenarios. The aim of this study was to compare the utility of these two biomarkers in the prediction of events after kidney transplant.

METHODS

We included 359 kidney transplants performed in our center between 2005 and 2015. cTNI and GDF-15 were measured on stored serum samples obtained pretransplant.

RESULTS

Median GDF-15 was 5,346.4 pg/mL, and cTNI was 5.6 ng/L. After follow-up, 77 (21.5%) patients died, and the incidence of cerebrovascular accident (CVA), acute coronary syndrome (ACS), and major adverse CVEs (MACE) was 6.38%, 12.68%, and 20.56%, respectively. Patients were stratified in tertiles according to GDF-15 and cTNT levels. By multivariate cox regression analysis including both biomarkers and different clinical characteristics, we found a significant relation between GDF-15 and mortality, CVAs, and MACE (highest tertile hazard ratio [HR] 2.2 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.2-4.1], p = 0.01, HR 9.7 CI 95% [2.2-43.1], p = 0.003 and HR 2.7 CI 95% [1.4-5.1], p = 0.002). On the contrary, posttransplant ACS was related to cTNI (highest cTNI tertile HR 3.2 CI 95% [1.5-7.3], p = 0.003).

DISCUSSION

Our study indicates the potential utility of GDF-15 as a mortality and CVE predictor after kidney transplant and its superiority compared to cTNI. By contrast, probably due to its tissue specificity, cardiac troponin showed a stronger correlation with acute coronary events. Although more studies are needed to confirm our findings, these two molecules could be used in conjunction with other tools to predict adverse events after transplant and ideally find strategies to minimize them.

GDF15 in Appetite and Exercise: Essential Player or Coincidental Bystander?

Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) has recently moved to the forefront of metabolism research. When administered pharmacologically, GDF15 reduces food intake and lowers body weight via the hindbrain-situated receptor GFRAL (glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor family receptor alpha-like). Endogenous GDF15 is a ubiquitous cellular stress signal that can be produced and secreted by a variety of cell types. Circulating levels are elevated in a series of disease states, but also in response to exogenous agents such as metformin, colchicine, AICAR, and cisplatin. Recently, exercise has emerged as a relevant intervention to interrogate GDF15 physiology. Prolonged endurance exercise increases circulating GDF15 to levels otherwise associated with certain pathological states and in response to metformin treatment. The jury is still out on whether GDF15 is a functional "exerkine" mediating organ-to-brain crosstalk or whether it is a coincidental bystander. In this review, we discuss the putative physiological implication of exercise-induced GDF15, focusing on the potential impact on appetite and metabolism.

Growth differentiation factor-15 and incident chronic kidney disease: a population-based cohort study

Background

The relationship between growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) and the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is still unclear. We sought to examine whether plasma GDF-15 was related to incident CKD and kidney function decline using a large prospective cohort study.

Methods

4318 participants of the Malmö Diet and Cancer Study-Cardiovascular Cohort were examined in 1991-1994. Incidence of CKD was followed prospectively by linkage with national patient registers. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was available for all participants at baseline, and was re-measured in a subgroup of 2744 subjects after 16.6 ± 1.49 years. Incidence of CKD was examined in relation to GDF-15 using Cox regression analysis. Logistic regression was used to examine the association of GDF-15 with eGFR change and eGFR-based CKD. Models were carefully corrected for potential confounders including baseline eGFR, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, and competing risk from death.

Results

165 patients developed CKD after 19.2 ± 4.04 years of follow-up. The adjusted hazard ratio (95% confidence interval, CI) for CKD in 4th versus 1st quartile of GDF-15 was 2.37 (1.33, 4.24) (p for trend < 0.01). Each per 1 standard deviation increase in GDF-15 was associated with a decline in eGFR of − 0.97 mL/min/1.73 m² (95% CI, − 1.49 ~ − 0.45; p < 0.001). GDF-15 was also significantly associated eGFR-based CKD in 2713 subjects with baseline eGFR ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m².

Conclusions

GDF-15 predicted incidence of CKD and eGFR decline in the general population, independent of a wide range of potential risk factors and competing risk of death.

Elevated circulating growth differentiation factor 15 is related to decreased heart rate variability in chronic kidney disease patients

Background

Growth differentiation factor 15(GDF15) is a distant member of the superfamily of the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β). It has been established that increased GDF15 levels are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, the detail effect of GDF15 on cardiovascular system in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) needs detail analysis.

Methods

Patients with CKD who did not need dialysis were enrolled in the study. Blood pressure (BP), endothelial function, pulse wave velocity (PWV) and heart rate variability (HRV) were taken in all subjects. Plasma GDF15 concentration was measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Results

Among the 355 participants, the mean age was 57.4 (±14.2) years old and the mean estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was 50.1 (±33.2) mL/min/1.73m². The average plasma GDF15 level was 1394.7 (±610.1) pg/mL. Higher GDF15 concentrations were significantly associated with decreased eGFR and increased urine protein-to-creatinine ratio (uPCR). In multivariable models, after adjusting for potential confounders, plasma GDF15 has negative concerning with HRV parameters including the standard deviation of the normal-to-normal (NN) interval (SDNN), the square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent NN intervals (RMSSD) and Triangular Index.

Conclusion

We observed there was a link between increased plasma of GDF15 and decreased HRV. The mechanisms and prediction of GDF15 in the cardiovascular disease with CKD needs further discussion and study.

Growth Differentiation Factor 15: A Biomarker with High Clinical Potential in the Evaluation of Kidney Transplant Candidates

Kidney transplantation implies a significant improvement in patient survival. Nevertheless, early mortality after transplant remains high. Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) is a novel biomarker under study as a mortality predictor in multiple scenarios. The aim of this study is to assess the utility of GDF-15 to predict survival in kidney transplant candidates. For this purpose, 395 kidney transplant recipients with pretransplant stored serum samples were included. The median GDF-15 was 5331.3 (50.49-16242.3) pg/mL. After a mean of 90.6 ± 41.5 months of follow-up, 82 (20.8%) patients died. Patients with higher GDF-15 levels (high risk tertile) had a doubled risk of mortality after adjustment by clinical characteristics (p = 0.009). After adjustment by EPTS (Estimated Post Transplant Survival score) the association remained significant for medium hazards ratios (HR) 3.24 95%CI (1.2-8.8), p = 0.021 and high risk tertiles HR 4.3 95%CI (1.65-11.54), p = 0.003. GDF-15 improved the prognostic accuracy of EPTS at 1-year (ΔAUC = 0.09, p = 0.039) and 3-year mortality (ΔAUC = 0.11, p = 0.036). Our study suggests an independent association between higher GDF-15 levels and mortality after kidney transplant, adding accuracy to the EPTS score, an established risk prediction model currently used in kidney transplant candidates.

GDF15: A Hormone Conveying Somatic Distress to the Brain

GDF15 has recently gained scientific and translational prominence with the discovery that its receptor is a GFRAL-RET heterodimer of which GFRAL is expressed solely in the hindbrain. Activation of this receptor results in reduced food intake and loss of body weight and is perceived and recalled by animals as aversive. This information encourages a revised interpretation of the large body of previous research on the protein. GDF15 can be secreted by a wide variety of cell types in response to a broad range of stressors. We propose that central sensing of GDF15 via GFRAL-RET activation results in behaviors that facilitate the reduction of exposure to a noxious stimulus. The human trophoblast appears to have hijacked this signal, producing large amounts of GDF15 from early pregnancy. We speculate that this encourages avoidance of potential teratogens in pregnancy. Circulating GDF15 levels are elevated in a range of human disease states, including various forms of cachexia, and GDF15-GFRAL antagonism is emerging as a therapeutic strategy for anorexia/cachexia syndromes. Metformin elevates circulating GDF15 chronically in humans and the weight loss caused by this drug appears to be dependent on the rise in GDF15. This supports the concept that chronic activation of the GDF15-GFRAL axis has efficacy as an antiobesity agent. In this review, we examine the science of GDF15 since its identification in 1997 with our interpretation of this body of work now being assisted by a clear understanding of its highly selective central site of action.

Cardiac biomarkers of heart failure in chronic kidney disease

Heart failure remains a continuing threat to patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Although various heart failure biomarkers have been applied for early detection, diagnosis and prognosis in CKD, these are easily affected by renal insufficiency thus limiting use in these patients. In this review, the major four groups of heart failure biomarkers are explored. These include those associated with: myocardial stretch, ie, brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), N-terminal pro-BNP (NT-proBNP) and mid-regional proatrial natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP); myocyte injury, ie, high-sensitivity troponin T (hsTnT), heart-type fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP); fibrosis, matrix remodelling and inflammation, ie, soluble growth stimulating gene 2 (sST2), galectin-3 (Gal-3), growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15); and renal function, ie, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1), cystatin C (CysC), urinary sodium and urinary albumin. This review highlights classic heart failure biomarkers with critical values adjusted to glomerular filtration rate, summarizes research progress of new heart failure biomarkers and future research directions. Because diagnostic and prognostic usefulness of a single time point biomarker is limited, biomarkers should be combined and monitored at multiple times for optimal clinical impact.

Prognostic Value of Growth Differentiation Factor 15 in Kidney Donors and Recipients

Growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF15) is associated with inflammatory conditions, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and mortality. There is very limited data on GDF15 after kidney donation and transplantation. We analyzed serum samples of patients who donated a kidney (54 living donors) or who underwent kidney transplantation (104 recipients) at the University Hospital of Münster (Germany) between 2013 and 2015, for GDF15 levels immediately prior and one year after surgery. GDF15 levels were significantly elevated in end-stage renal disease patients compared to healthy individuals (2844 (IQR 2087, 3361) pg/ml vs. 384 (IQR 307, 487) pg/ml, p < 0.001). GDF15 was strongly associated with the dialysis vintage. While kidney transplantation led to a significant decrease of GDF15 (913 (IQR 674, 1453) pg/ml, p < 0.001), kidney donation caused a moderate increase of GDF15 (510 (IQR 420, 626), p < 0.001) one year after surgery. GDF15 levels remained significantly higher in recipients and kidney donors than in healthy controls (735 (IQR 536, 1202) pg/ml vs. 384 (IQR 307, 487) pg/ml, p < 0.001). GDF15 is increased in patients with kidney disease and is associated with dialysis vintage. Given its decrease after transplantation and its increase after uni-nephrectomy, GDF15 might be a marker of kidney function. However, since it correlates only to the eGFR in transplanted patients it may indicate chronic kidney disease.