Urine Trefoil Factors as Prognostic Biomarkers in Chronic Kidney Disease

Trefoil factor family (TFF) peptides are increased in serum and urine in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, whether the levels of TFF predict the progression of CKD remains to be elucidated.

We determined the TFF levels using peptide-specific ELISA in spot urine samples and performed a prospective cohort study. The association between the levels of urine TFFs and other urine biomarkers as well as the renal prognosis was analyzed in 216 CKD patients (mean age: 53.7 years, 47.7% female, 56.9% with chronic glomerulonephritis, and mean eGFR: 58.5 ml/min/1.73 m²).

The urine TFF1 and TFF3 levels significantly increased with the progression of CKD stages, but not the urine TFF2 levels. The TFF1 and TFF3 peptide levels predicted the progression of CKD ≥ stage 3b by ROC analysis (AUC 0.750 and 0.879, resp.); however, TFF3 alone predicted CKD progression in a multivariate logistic regression analysis (odds ratio 3.854, 95% confidence interval 1.316-11.55). The Kaplan-Meier survival curves demonstrated that patients with a higher TFF1 and TFF3 alone, or in combination with macroalbuminuria, had a significantly worse renal prognosis.

The data suggested that urine TFF peptides are associated with renal progression and the outcomes in patients with CKD.