Urinary angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 and its activity in cats with chronic kidney disease

TL;DR

This study examines urinary ACE2 levels and activity in cats with chronic kidney disease to understand their potential as biomarkers for kidney health.

Contribution

The study is the first to investigate uACE2 in feline chronic kidney disease and its correlation with clinical indicators.

Findings

UACCR values were significantly higher in early and late-stage CKD cats compared to healthy controls.

Urinary ACE2 activity was significantly lower in CKD cats than in healthy cats.

UACCR and UAA showed correlations with blood urea nitrogen and plasma creatinine, respectively.

Abstract

Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) played an important role in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) and it was proved to be renoprotective in renal disease. Urinary angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (uACE2) has been shown to reflect renal injury in human and experimental studies, but its role in feline kidney disease remains unknown.

Our objectives involve comparing uACE2 concentrations and activities in cats across CKD stages with healthy controls, investigating the relationship between uACE2 concentrations, activities, and clinicopathological data in feline CKD patients, and assessing the predictive abilities of both for CKD progression.

A retrospective, case–control study. The concentration and activity of uACE2 were measured by commercial ELISA and fluorometric assay kits, respectively. The concentration was adjusted to give uACE2 concentration-to-creatinine ratios (UACCRs).

In total, 67 cats consisting of 24 control and 43 chronic kidney disease (CKD), including 24 early-stage CKD and 19 late-stage CKD, were enrolled in this study. UACCR values were significantly higher in both early-stage (2.100 [1.142–4.242] x 10−6) and late-stage feline CKD (4.343 [2.992–5.0.71] x 10−6) compared to healthy controls (0.894 [0.610–1.076] x 10−6; p < 0.001), and there was also significant difference between-early stage group and late-stage group (p = 0.026). Urinary ACE2 activity (UAA) was significantly lower in CKD cats (1.338 [0.644–2.755] x pmol/min/ml) compared to the healthy cats (7.989 [3.711–15.903] x pmol/min/ml; p < 0.001). UACCR demonstrated an independent, positive correlation with BUN (p < 0.001), and UAA exhibited an independent, negative correlation with plasma creatinine (p < 0.001). Both UACCR and UAA did not yield significant results in predicting CKD progression based on the ROC curve analysis.

uACE2 concentration and activity exhibit varying changes as renal function declines, particularly in advanced CKD cats.

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