Systemic and Urinary Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalins Are Poor Predictors of Acute Kidney Injury in Unselected Critically Ill Patients

Background . Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) in serum and urine have been suggested as potential early predictive biological markers of acute kidney injury (AKI) in selected critically ill patients. Methods . We performed a secondary analysis of a multicenter prospective observational cohort study of unselected critically ill patients. Results . The analysis included 140 patients, including 57 patients who did not develop AKI, 31 patients who developed AKI, and 52 patients with AKI on admission to the ICU. Levels of sNGAL and uNGAL on non-AKI days were significantly lower compared to levels of sNGAL on RIFLE RISK days, RIFLE INJURY days, and RIFLE FAILURE days. The AUC of sNGAL for predicting AKI was low: 0.45 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.27–0.63) and 0.53 (CI 0.38–0.67), 2 days and 1 day before development of AKI, respectively. The AUC of uNGAL for predicting AKI was also low: 0.48 (CI 0.33–0.62) and 0.48 (CI 0.33–0.62), 2 days and 1 day before development of AKI, respectively. AUC of sNGAL and uNGAL for the prediction of renal replacement therapy requirement was 0.47 (CI 0.37–0.58) and 0.26 (CI 0.03–0.50). Conclusions . In unselected critically ill patients, sNGAL and uNGAL are poor predictors of AKI or RRT.