Plasma osteopontin levels in patients with acute kidney injury requiring dialysis: a study in a tertiary care institute in South India

Purpose Osteopontin (OPN) is evolving as a novel biomarker of injury, overall survival and renal outcome in critically ill patients with acute kidney injury (AKI), requiring renal replacement therapy. Methods We performed a prospective study on 35 consecutive patients of acute kidney injury requiring renal replacement therapy (AKIN stage 3). OPN levels were measured in the patients and in the controls. The relation between OPN and the severity of illness and its effect on the AKI and renal outcome were studied. Results There was a statistically significant elevation of OPN in patients of AKIN stage 3 in comparison to healthy controls ( p = 0.001). The Sequential Organ Function Assessment (SOFA) scores were found to be higher in septic group in comparison to non-septic group and it was statistically significant ( p = 0.014). There was significant correlation between SOFA scoring and OPN levels suggesting its association with severity ( r = 0.382, p = 0.023). Conclusions In our study, OPN was found to be a valuable marker of severity of injury, its association with sepsis and renal recovery, in patients with acute kidney injury needing renal replacement therapy.