Association between different metabolic phenotypes and chronic kidney disease risk: a cohort study

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) involves conditions that alter renal structure/function; however few studies have considered the dynamic nature of metabolic status when exploring its association with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

We retrospectively included 7034 participants, categorized into four metabolic phenotypes by BMI and metabolic status: metabolically healthy non-overweight/obesity (MHNO), metabolically healthy overweight/obesity (MHO), metabolically unhealthy non-overweight/obesity (MUNO), and metabolically unhealthy overweight/obesity (MUO). The primary endpoint was incident CKD (eGFR < 60 ml/min/1.73 m² and/or proteinuria for two consecutive years). Associations were assessed using Cox and logistic regression analysis with multivariate adjustments.

The baseline proportions of individuals with MHNO, MUNO, MHO, and MUO phenotypes were 35.6%, 17.5%, 18.3%, and 28.6%, respectively. After multivariate adjustment in Cox analyses, MUNO (HR:1.184; 95%CI:1.031-1.506) and MUO (HR:1.420; 95%CI:1.153-1.749) phenotypes were associated with incident CKD, with no such association in the MHO phenotype. However, in terms of transitions, compared with those with a consistent MHNO phenotype, those with a MHO phenotype evolving to a metabolically unhealthy status had higher incident CKD risk (HR:1.649; 95%CI:1.096-2.482).

Overweight/obesity and metabolic unhealthy status increase CKD risk; individuals with MHO who transition to metabolically unhealthy phenotypes have higher CKD risk than those consistently maintaining MHNO.