Journal of nephrology
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Journal of nephrology · Dec 2015
Observational StudyDiagnostic and short-term prognostic utility of plasma pro-enkephalin (pro-ENK) for acute kidney injury in patients admitted with sepsis in the emergency department.
Acute kidney injury (AKI) aggravates the prognosis of patients with sepsis. Reliable biomarkers for early detection of AKI in this setting are lacking. Enkephalins influence kidney function, and may have a role in AKI from sepsis. We utilized a novel immunoassay for plasma proenkephalin (pro-ENK), a stable surrogate marker for endogenous enkephalins, in patients hospitalized with sepsis, in order to assess its clinical utility. ⋯ Use of pro-ENK in septic patients can detect the presence and severity of AKI. Moreover, pro-ENK is highly predictive of short-term mortality and could enable early identification of patients at risk of death.