Predictive value of plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin for acute renal failure in patients with severe sepsis

Background Predicting acute renal failure in patients with severe sepsis is important, because patients may need renal replacement therapy (RRT). Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) has been evaluated for its ability to detect and predict acute kidney injury (AKI) in critically ill patients. This study aimed to assess the predictive value of plasma NGAL for acute renal failure in adult severely septic patients. Methods Thirty healthy adults and 85 adult patients admitted to the medical intensive care unit (ICU) were enrolled. Serum creatinine, plasma NGAL, and interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, and IL-17 levels were evaluated. AKI was classified as Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss of kidney function, and End-stage kidney disease (RIFLE). Results RIFLE-Failure (RIFLE-F) developed in 30 of 76 (39.5%) patients with severe sepsis without chronic kidney disease within 7 days after ICU admission. Serum creatinine, plasma NGAL, IL-6, and IL-10 could predict RIFLE-F within 7 days after ICU admission. The discriminatory power of plasma NGAL was not significant for predicting hospital mortality. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of plasma NGAL was not higher than that of serum creatinine in predicting RIFLE-F within 7 days. Conclusion Plasma NGAL is a useful tool for predicting acute renal failure in adult patients with severe sepsis. Serum creatinine has a similar ability to detect RIFLE-F occurrence.