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Updated: Feb 19, 2026

Calcification of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells and Imaging of Aortic Calcification and Inflammation
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Calcification of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells and Imaging of Aortic Calcification and Inflammation

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Correlation between complement C3 level and abdominal aortic calcification in non-dialysis chronic kidney disease

Chenfei Fu1, Wen Li1, Weijia Xu2

  • 1Department of Nephrology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.

Frontiers in Medicine
|February 18, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Serum complement C3 is linked to vascular calcification in non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease patients. Higher C3 levels correlate with increased calcification risk, highlighting C3 as a potential biomarker for cardiovascular disease progression.

Area of Science:

  • Nephrology
  • Cardiovascular Medicine
  • Immunology

Background:

  • Previous research links complement activation to cardiovascular disease in dialysis patients.
  • This study focuses on non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease (NDD-CKD) patients.
  • Investigates the specific role of complement C3 in vascular calcification (VC) within this population.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the association between serum complement C3 levels and vascular calcification (VC).
  • To identify potential biomarkers for cardiovascular risk in NDD-CKD patients.
  • To explore the relationship between C3 and VC in a cohort of NDD-CKD patients.

Main Methods:

  • Enrolled 456 NDD-CKD patients between 2019-2022.
  • Measured serum C3 using immunoscattering turbidimetry and assessed VC via CT imaging.
  • Employed restricted cubic spline (RCS) and logistic regression for association analysis, with ROC analysis for prediction assessment.

Main Results:

  • The highest tertile of C3 (0.95-1.63 g/L) showed a significant correlation with VC (OR=2.06, p=0.020).
  • Older age, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia were identified as independent risk factors for VC.
  • C3 demonstrated good predictive value for VC with an AUC of 0.849 (sensitivity 79.4%, specificity 76.7%).

Conclusions:

  • Serum C3 exhibits a J-shaped, non-linear relationship with vascular calcification in NDD-CKD patients.
  • Confirms older age, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia as independent risk factors for VC.
  • Suggests C3 may serve as a valuable biomarker for predicting VC in NDD-CKD.
Abstract

Keywords:
cardiovascular diseasechronic kidney diseasecomplement C3non-dialysisvascular calcification

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