• Thilo von Groote, Felix Albert, Melanie Meersch, Raphael Koch, Christian Porschen, Oliver Hartmann, Deborah Bergmann, Peter Pickkers, and Alexander Zarbock.
• Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany.
• Crit Care. 2022 Oct 31; 26 (1): 333.

BackgroundRenal replacement therapy (RRT) remains the key rescue therapy for critically ill patients with severe acute kidney injury (AKI). However, there are currently no tools available to predict successful liberation from RRT. Biomarkers may allow for risk stratification and individualization of treatment strategies. Proenkephalin A 119-159 (penKid) has been suggested as a promising marker of kidney function in the context of AKI, but has not yet been evaluated for RRT liberation in critically ill patients with AKI.MethodsThis post hoc analysis included 210 patients from the randomized clinical ELAIN trial and penKid levels were measured in the blood of these patients. Competing risk time-to-event analyses were performed for pre-RRT penKid at initiation of RRT and in a landmark analysis at day 3 after initiation of RRT. Competing risk endpoints were successful liberation from RRT or death without prior liberation from RRT.ResultsLow pre-RRT penKid levels (penKid ≤ 89 pmol/l) at RRT initiation were associated with early and successful liberation from RRT compared to patients with high pre-RRT penKid levels (subdistribution hazard ratio (sHR) 1.83, 95%CI 1.26-2.67, p = 0.002, estimated 28d-cumulative incidence function (28d-CIF) of successful liberation from RRT 61% vs. 45%, p = 0.022). This association persisted in the landmark analysis on day 3 of RRT (sHR 1.78, 95%CI 1.17-2.71, p = 0.007, 28d-CIF of successful liberation from RRT 67% vs. 47%, p = 0.018). For both time points, no difference in the competing event of death was detected.ConclusionsIn critically ill patients with RRT-dependent AKI, plasma penKid appears to be a useful biomarker for the prediction of shorter duration and successful liberation from RRT and may allow an individualized approach to guide strategies of RRT liberation in critically ill patients with RRT-dependent AKI.Trial RegistrationThe ELAIN trial was prospectively registered at the German Clinical Trial Registry (Identifier: DRKS00004367) on 28th of May 2013.© 2022. The Author(s).

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