BACKGROUND: The process of kidney transplantation remains the optimal treatment for end-stage renal disease, offering improved quality of life and increased survival rates compared to long-term dialysis. However, despite advances in surgical techniques, immunosuppression regimens, and post-operative care, there are still significant challenges in predicting the organ's status and long-term outcomes of transplantation. Among the many factors that influence graft survival, the quality of the donated organ plays a fundamental role. There is an ongoing need for accurate and reliable biomarkers. Syndecan-1 is found in the endothelial glycocalyx and shed at a higher rate into the blood during systemic pathological conditions. The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential of serum syndecan-1 levels as a biomarker for assessing donor kidney quality and to investigate its correlation with donor characteristics and short-term outcomes in kidney recipients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We investigated serum syndecan-1 levels in 80 deceased donors and correlated them with donor characteristics and short-term outcomes (defined as delayed graft function - defined as the need for dialysis within the first week post-transplantation and renal function at 3 months post-transplantation - assessed using serum creatinine levels) in 104 corresponding kidney recipients. This single-center retrospective observational cohort study was conducted from April to December 2021. RESULTS: The donor pool consisted of 65% males with a median age of 53 years. Of these, 45 donors (56%) were classified as extended criteria donors. Higher syndecan-1 levels correlated with the last creatinine levels before organ procurement (R = 0.32, p = 0.01) and were marginally higher in donors with acute kidney injury (p = 0.07). However, syndecan-1 levels were not associated with short-term outcomes in kidney recipients (renal function at 3 months). CONCLUSIONS: The data suggests syndecan-1 could be a potential biomarker for assessing donor kidney quality, although its implications on recipient outcomes require further study. This pilot investigation underscores the importance of syndecan-1 in evaluating organ quality but highlights the necessity for more extensive research to validate these findings and explore their implications in transplant success.

Charles University Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Kralove Hradec Kralove Czech Republic; Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care University Hospital Hradec Kralove Hradec Kralove Czech Republic; Faculty of Health Studies Technical University in Liberec Liberec Czech Republic

Charles University Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Kralove Hradec Kralove Czech Republic; Department of Anesthesia Pain Management and Perioperative Medicine Dalhousie University Halifax Nova Scotia Canada; Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care University Hospital Hradec Kralove Hradec Kralove Czech Republic

Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Diagnostics University Hospital Hradec Kralove Hradec Kralove Czech Republic

Department of Medicine Division of Nephrology and Hypertension Mayo Clinic Rochester Minnesota

Department of Nephrology Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine Prague Czech Republic

Department of Urology University Hospital Hradec Kralove Hradec Kralove Czech Republic; Charles University Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Kralove Hradec Kralove Czech Republic

Transplant Laboratory Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine Prague Czech Republic

Citace poskytuje Crossref.org