Mian Zeng, Qingui Chen, Wenjie Liang, Wanmei He, Haichong Zheng, Chunrong Huang

Impaired renal function is often neglected in COPD patients. Considering that COPD patients usually have an ongoing prothrombotic state and systemic inflammation status, we investigated the association among them and explored the predictive value of a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with a thrombospondin type 1 motif, member 13 (ADAMTS-13), on concealed chronic renal failure (CRF) in COPD patients. COPD patients were recruited from the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University between January 2015 and December 2016. Control was selected from contemporaneous hospitalized patients without COPD and matched by age and gender at a ratio of 1:1. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated by using the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration formula, and all subjects were categorized as having normal renal function (eGFR ≥60 mL min-1 1.73 m-2) and having concealed CRF (normal serum creatinine while eGFR <60 mL min-1 1.73 m-2). Independent correlates of concealed CRF were investigated by logistic regression analysis, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine the predictive value of ADAMTS-13. In total, 106 COPD and 106 non-COPD patients were finally recruited, and the incidences of concealed CRF were 19.81% and 7.55%, respectively. ADAMTS-13 (odds ratio [OR] =0.858, 95% CI =0.795-0.926), D-dimer (OR =1.095, 95% CI =1.027-1.169), and C-reactive protein (OR =1.252, 95% CI =1.058-1.480) were significantly associated with concealed CRF. Sensitivity and specificity at an ADAMTS-13 cutoff of 318.72 ng/mL were 100% and 81.2%, respectively. The area under the ROC curve was 0.959. Prothrombotic state and systemic inflammation status might contribute to explaining the high incidence of concealed CRF in COPD, and plasma ADAMTS-13 levels may serve as a strong predictor.