Presepsin Level Correlates with the Development of Moderate Coronary Artery Calcifications in Hemodialysis Patients: A Preliminary Cross-Section Design Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Characteristics of the Subjects Under Study

Parameters	ESRD (n=48)	Control (n=13)	P
Age	58.1±12.5	38.4±12.0	<0.001
Sex (M%)	79.2%	15.3%	<0.001
Diabetes	81%	0	<0.001
Hypertension	96%	15%	<0.001
Dyslipidemia	90%	85%	NS
eGFR	5.15 (2.25)	>60	<0.001
Calcium (mg/dl)	8.8±0.7	9.6±0.3	<0.001
Phosphorus (mg/dl)	4.8±1.5	3.5±0.5	<0.001
Ca.Phos Products (mg^2/dl^2)	42.2±13.5	33.6±4.9	<0.001
PTH (pg/mL)	210 (225)	27 (18)	<0.001
Vitamin D (ng/mL)	19.1 (10.5)	21.6 (19.4)	NS
CRP (mg/l)	7.4 (16.5)	1.2 (4.1)	<0.01
ESR (mm/h)	49 (36)	26 (21)	<0.01
Presepsin (ng/mL)	1531 (1347)	111 (62)	<0.01

Note: Data are expressed as mean means ± SD or median (interquartile range), whereas categorical data are expressed as percentage.

Table 2 Characteristics of ESRD Patients According to Calcification Score

Parameters	Calcification Score CA-CT					P
	1–2	3	4	5	6
	CACs
	0–10	11–100	101–400	401–1000	>1000
Patients	10.4%	16.7%	12.5%	31.3%	29.2%
Age	52±13	60±20	58±10	58±9	59±13	NS
Dyslipidemia	80%	75%	100%	81.3%	100%	NS
Hypertension	80%	100%	83.3%	100%	100%	NS
Diabetes	60%	87.5%	100%	80%	78.6%	NS
eGFR (mL/min/1.73 m^2)	5.4 (2.6)	5.3 (3.0)	5.3 (1.6)	4.9 (2.6)	5.6 (3.0)	NS
Calcium (mg/dl)	8.6±0.8	8.8±0.8	8.7±0.6	8.7±0.8	8.8±0.6	NS
Phosphorus (mg/dl)	3.4±0.9	4.8±0.6	5.7±0.6	4.7±0.6	5.0±0.6	NS
Ca.Phos Products (mg^2/dl^2)	29.2±6.9	42.2±13.4	49.6±16.8	40.9±14.0	44±1.2.9	NS
PTH (pg/mL)	320±111	295±234	191±132	289±215	233±137	NS
Vitamin D (ng/mL)	16.2 (12.7)	19.7 (3.3)	14.6 (4.8)	20.2 (12.0)	21.2 (12.9)	NS
ESR (mm/h)	49±20	48±38	61±20	48±28	60±26	NS
CRP (mg/L)	6.7 (15.0)	5.2 (14.5)	5.81 (60.6)	9.4 (19.2)	7.6 (15.5)	NS
Presepsin (pg/mL)	909 (964)	1968 (2842)	1767 (5599)	1587 (1221)	802 (1165)	NS
Dialysis vintage (months)	7 (26)	33 (41)	14.5 (7)	38 (242)	28.5 (36)	NS

Note: Data are expressed as mean means ± SD or median (interquartile range), whereas categorical data are expressed as percentage.

Figure 1 Box plot of presepsin (A) and serum phosphorus (B) in relation with CACs categories. Data shows an apparent increase in presepsin and phosphorus levels with increasing CACs up to 101–400 group in HD patients. (C) shows a significant correlation between CACs of 0–400 and log presepsin levels (p<0.05, R= 0.459), whereas in (D) no correlation was observed when all CACs and log presepsin levels were included.

Figure 2 Correlation and linear regression analysis of log dialysis vintage and log CACs (A) or log presepsin levels (B) in HD patients is presented. A significant correlation between CACs and dialysis vintage was observed (p<0.05, R=0.342). When HD vintage was categorized, a significant correlation between 1–15 months of HD vintage and presepsin levels (p<0.05, R=0.482) (C) and between 1–20 months of HD vintage and CACs (p<0.05, R=0.425) (D) were observed.

Figure 3 CACs and presepsin levels (mean ± SD) in groups categorized according to hypertension (HTN), dyslipidemia (DLP), and diabetes mellitus (DP) positive/negative conditions. CACs levels were significantly lower in patients with negative for HTN, DLP, and DM than patients having all the conditions combined (* p<0.05).