@article {7351, title = {Higher plasma transforming growth factor (TGF)-β is associated with kidney disease in older community dwelling adults.}, journal = {BMC Nephrol}, volume = {18}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Mar 21}, pages = {98}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: TGF-β is induced in the vasculature with aging suggesting that high plasma TGF-β levels may be a risk factor for chronic kidney disease (CKD) in older adults.

METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the association between plasma TGF-β levels and CKD including data for 1722 older adults who had participated in the 1996/97 visit of the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS). Prevalent CKD was defined as eGFR < 60~mL/min/1.73~m(2) or urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR) >=30~mg/g. We also evaluated whether baseline TGF-β levels predicted change in eGFR, cardiovascular (CV) events, or mortality in longitudinal analysis.

RESULTS: Plasma TGF-β levels were significantly and independently associated with lower eGFR in cross-sectional analysis. Doubling of TGF-β was significantly associated with lower eGFR (β estimate after adjusting for CV risk factors = -1.18, 95\% CI -2.03, -0.32). We observed no association with albuminuria. There was no association between baseline TGF-β and change in eGFR, but each doubling of TGF-β at baseline was associated with increased risk of a composite outcome of CV events and mortality, adjusted HR 1.10 (95\% C.I. 1.02- 1.20, p = 0.006).

CONCLUSION: In this large cohort of community-dwelling older individuals, high plasma TGF-β levels are modestly, but independently associated with lower eGFR but not with albuminuria in cross-sectional analysis. In addition, TGF-β levels are associated with increased risk of CV events and mortality. Further research is needed to determine the direction of association between plasma TGF-β and the risk of CKD and CKD-associated morbidities in older adults.

}, issn = {1471-2369}, doi = {10.1186/s12882-017-0509-6}, author = {Mehta, Tapan and B{\r u}zkov{\'a}, Petra and Kizer, Jorge R and Djouss{\'e}, Luc and Chonchol, Michel and Mukamal, Kenneth J and Shlipak, Michael and Ix, Joachim H and Jalal, Diana} }