Identification of urinary biomarkers by proteomics in newborns: use in obstructive nephropathy

An important issue in congenital unilateral ureteropelvic junction (UPJ) obstruction, a frequent pathology in newborns, is whether infants should undergo surgery. Non-invasive biomarkers to reduce or replace the current invasive clinical exploration are not available. The objective of this study was to identify urinary markers of UPJ obstruction. We compared a number of proteome technologies to study the urinary proteome in UPJ obstruction and selected online capillary electrophoresis coupled to mass-spectrometry for the selection of non-invasive prognostic biomarkers. We selected 53 urinary biomarkers that were able to distinguish between different levels of UPJ obstruction. In a prospective study using these 53 biomarkers, we predicted with 97% accuracy, and several months in advance, the clinical outcome of 36 UPJ-obstruction patients. Some of the discriminating biomarkers were identified. A newly identified marker, proSAAS (proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 1 inhibitor), generated a new hypothesis in the physiopathology of UPJ obstruction. These results show that analysis of urinary polypeptides in newborns with UPJ obstruction can predict their clinical outcome.