Cystatin C as a Marker of Kidney Function in Children

Area of Science:

• Nephrology
• Paediatric Medicine
• Biomarker Research

Background:

• Chronic kidney disease (CKD) significantly impacts global paediatric health, causing complications like anemia and hypertension.
• Serum creatinine-based estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is the traditional method but has limitations due to variability in muscle mass, age, gender, and diet.
• Cystatin C presents a promising alternative biomarker for assessing kidney function, less affected by these confounding factors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the reliability of cystatin C as a biomarker for kidney function in paediatric populations.
• To evaluate cystatin C's utility compared to traditional markers in children.
• To explore cystatin C's role in early detection of kidney dysfunction and injury in children.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of existing literature on cystatin C in paediatric kidney function assessment.
• Analysis of studies comparing cystatin C with serum creatinine-based eGFR in various paediatric age groups.
• Examination of cystatin C's performance in detecting acute kidney injury (AKI) in paediatric intensive care units (PICUs).

Main Results:

• Cystatin C demonstrates greater accuracy in assessing kidney function, particularly in neonates and children with urinary tract malformations.
• The biomarker shows higher reliability for the early detection of acute kidney injury in paediatric intensive care units.
• Evidence suggests cystatin C provides a consistent and precise measure of kidney function across diverse paediatric age groups.

Conclusions:

• Cystatin C is a reliable biomarker for paediatric kidney function, offering advantages over traditional methods.
• Its utility in early diagnosis and management of CKD and AKI in children is supported by current evidence.
• Wider adoption in clinical guidelines is hindered by a lack of large-scale paediatric validation studies, highlighting a need for further research.