title: Serum Endocan correlated with stage of chronic kidney disease and deterioration in renal transplant recipients.
abstract: Earlier detection and intervention for chronic renal allograft injury (CRAI) remain major challenges for transplantation physicians. Endocan plays a key role in the regulation of cell adhesion, inflammatory disorders, and tumor progression. We conducted this cross-sectional study of 97 renal transplant (RT) recipients with mean RT duration of 7.0 ± 5.7 years to determine whether Endocan could be a diagnostic and prognostic marker. The patients' mean age was 43.6 ± 13.2 years, and 55.7% (54/97) were male. Higher Endocan levels were found in more advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages in a dose-dependent manner. Interestingly, the Endocan ≥ 643.19 pg/mL group had higher creatinine (Cr; 1.2 ± 0.4 vs 1.6 ± 1.1 mg/dL; P = .029) and lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR; 67.8 ± 23.8 mL/min vs 54.4 ± 22.0; P = .006) than the Endocan <643.19 pg/mL group after 3 months of follow-up, respectively. Linear regression analysis found tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α correlated well with Endocan. To elucidate the response of endothelium activation, we stimulated human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) with TNF-α in vitro, and found the levels of Endocan (P = .022) and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 (P = .034) increased with time, but interleukin (IL)-10 decreased (P = .013). In summary, Endocan may reflect the degree of endothelial cell injury in renal allografts, and showed a trend of elevation in late-stage CKD. An in vitro study demonstrated TNF-α-activated HUVECs secreted high levels of Endocan and TGF-β1, which could lead to a better understanding of the role of endothelium in immune balance. In conclusion, Endocan may have potential as a useful long-term indicator of CRAI in RT recipients, but further study is needed to verify our findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Y-H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; Department of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: K-H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan; Life Science Research Center, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: C-P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; Department of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: C-H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; Department of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: M-J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: T-M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Y-W
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: S-T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; School of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; Department of Life Science, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan. Electronic address: cschen920@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: C-H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005919:Glomerular Filtration Rate; D061307:Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000097:blood* / Q000601:surgery; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D011509:Proteoglycans / Q000097:blood*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C101134:ESM1 protein, human; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D011509:Proteoglycans; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha