Circulating Proteins and Mortality in CKD: A Proteomics Study of the AASK and ARIC Cohorts

Proteomics could provide pathophysiologic insight into the increased risk of mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). This study aimed to investigate associations between the circulating proteome and all-cause mortality among patients with CKD. Observational cohort study. Primary analysis in 703 participants in the African American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension (AASK) and validation in 1,628 participants with CKD in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study who attended visit 5. Circulating proteins. All-cause mortality. Among AASK participants, we evaluated the associations of 6,790 circulating proteins with all-cause mortality using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models. Proteins with significant associations were further studied in ARIC Visit 5 participants with CKD. In the AASK cohort, the mean age was 54.5 years, 271 (38.5%) were women, and the mean measured glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was 46mL/min/1.73m2. The median follow-up was 9.6 years, and 7 distinct proteins were associated with all-cause mortality at the Bonferroni-level threshold (P