The role of serum cystatin C as an early predictor for the diagnosis of chronic kidney disease in Mosul City

Background: Diagnostic marker to detect chronic kidney disease (CKD) at early stages is important as early intervention can slow the loss of kidney functions. Serum cystatin C (sCysC) is said to be a superior marker for CKD compared to serum creatinine (sCr) and other known markers in the near past period to detect the mild GFR reduction between 60 and 90 ml/min/1.73m. Objective: To detect for detecting the role of cystatin C as an early predictor for the assessment of chronic kidney disease patients. Methods: Blood and urine samples from 185 patients suffering from various stages of CKD or subjects under the risk of CKD were taken from Ibn-Sina teaching hospital during the period from 15 of March 2012 to 10 of sept 2013. Serum Urea (sUr), serum uric acid (sUA), serum creatinine (sCr), serum cystatin C (sCysC), 24 hour excreted urine protein and 24 hour excreted urine creatinine where analyzed then compared to corrected creatinine clearance for each patient. Results: The results showed that serum CysC started to change from abnormal border line level at stage 2 to clearly abnormal level at stage three of CKD comparing to other assessments which used sCr, sUr, sUA. The results also indicated that the urinary 24h excreted protein was starting to be observed at stage 3 of CKD. Conclusions: The present study indicated that sCysC have the potential benefit for early detection of CKD especially in those with high risk before appearance of the symptoms and before occurrence of the complications.