Association of visfatin with chronic kidney disease in a cohort of patients with and without diabetes

Objective: To evaluate association of serum visfatin with CKD secondary to diabetic nephropathy and to compare it with patients of CKD secondary to other risk factors. Methods: Seventy eight individuals including 28 healthy controls and 50 patients of CKD were included in this study. Patients with CKD were further grouped based on etiology of CKD into diabetics and non-diabetics. Patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus, urinary tract infection, urolithiasis, liver cirrhosis, stroke, ischaemic heart disease, and rheumatoid arthritis were excluded. Measurement of Serum visfatin was done through EIA Kit (Phoenix pharmaceuticals Burlingame CA) Results: Visfatin concentration was significantly high in patients with CKD compared to controls (8.7 ± 4.7 vs. 5.2 ± 3.3 p = 0 .001). No significant difference in Visfatin concentrations between patients of CKD with and without diabetes was detected (9.2± 5.5 vs. 8.3± 3.2 p = 0.694). A significant negative correlation of visfatin with estimated GFR (r2= -0.383, p=0.01) and a positive correlation with degree of proteinuria (p=0.01) was observed. Conclusion: The present study confirms the association of visfatin with CKD, however further studies at molecular level to check its expression within renal tissue may clarify its definitive role in CKD.