The Association of Adropin with Asymptomatic Coronary Calcification in Patients with Early Stages of Chronic Kidney Disease

Background: Early stage of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is closely associated with vascular remodeling and coronary artery calcification. The aim of the study is to determine whether adropin is associated with asymptomatic coronary calcification in patients with early stages of CKD. Methods: This study were enrolled 337 individuals fulfilling the inclusion criteria of the early stages of CKD (G1-2, A1-3) and divided into two subgroups with (n = 196) and without (n = 141) asymptomatic coronary artery calcification. Native coronary multi-detector computed tomography angiography was conducted to determine coronary artery calcification, which was stratified in four grades depending on the Agatston method. Serum levels of adropin were measured by ELISA. Results: The patients with known asymptomatic coronary artery calcification had significantly lower levels of adropin than those without this condition. The levels of adropin in individuals with mild (130-199 HU), moderate (200-299 HU), severe (300-399 HU) and very severe (≥ 400 HU) calcification were 3.13 (95% CI = 1.92-4.21) ng/mL, 2.3 (95% CI = 1.45-3.6) ng/mL, 2.1 (95% CI = 1.22-3.25) ng/mL and 1.26 (95% CI = 1.13-1.98) ng/mL, respectively. In multivariate logistic regression low adropin (< 2.95 ng/mL), a presence of hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) exerted their independent potencies to predict asymptomatic coronary calcification. Moreover, adropin demonstrated better discriminative potency than concomitant hypertension and T2DM. Conclusions: Low levels of circulating adropin significantly predicted a risk of coronary artery calcification in patients with early stage of CKD.