Value of Plasmatic Villin-1 in the prediction of early graft dysfunction in kidney transplant recipients among Egyptian population

Abstract Background One of the main complications of kidney transplantation is delayed graft function (DGF). There has been enormous growing research interest in the potential for the rapidly expanding fields of medical technology to generate new biomarkers with the aim of early prediction of DGF and modifying its therapy accordingly. Villin-1 has been detected in urine of patients with AKI. Additionally, it is redistributed during AKI from the brush borders of the proximal tubular cells toward the basolateral membrane which positions villin-1 closer to the renal vasculature and suggests that it could be released in the blood as well, so can be as a novel biomarker for DGF. Methods Of 70 patients with end-stage renal disease with one or more risk factor for developing delayed graft function attending renal transplantation preparation clinics in ASUSH, IMC and NILE Badrawi hospital in Egypt from May 2016 to July 2019, 41 patients were eligible and assigned into two groups according to the correlation with the serum creatinine levels in the first two days post-transplantation after signed informed consent for participation in our study into group 1 (DGF group) and group 2 (NGF group). We measured the presence of villin-1 by ELISA technique (quantitative) in comparison to serum creatinine levels in plasma at the time of declamping (zero level), 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 12th, 24th, 48th, 72th 96th, 120th hour post declamping, also samples from normal population and chronic kidney disease stage V patients have been collected to establish reference range guide for plasmatic villin-1 in both groups. Results Statistically significant differences were noted in the comparison between both groups as regard the plasmatic villin-1 levels at the same measurement points in both groups, also plasmatic villin-1 started to rise above its reference range in the ESRD patients at the 5th hour post declamping while its peak was at the 7th hour in the DGF group’s recipients then started to decrease after that but didn’t settle down between the reference range guide during the regular follow up of its level till the 120th hour post declamping. the reference range guide was from 0.08 and 0.35 ng\ml in males and from 0.055 to 0.35 ng\ml in females in normal population while from 0.38 and 1.4 ng\ml in males and from 0.28 to 1.1 ng\ml in females in the ESRD patients. Conclusions Plasmatic villin-1 is a promising novel biomarker for detection of early graft dysfunction in kidney transplant