Upregulation of Peripheral Blood NLRP3 and IL-18 in Patients With Acute Kidney Injury in Sepsis and Its Clinical Significance

Background

Sepsis-associated acute kidney injury (SA-AKI) is a common complication that can lead to renal failure in patients, significantly affecting the prognosis and survival of patients.

Objective

In this study, we aimed to evaluate the predictive value of NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) and interleukin 18 (IL-18) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of SA patients for the occurrence of SA-AKI.

Material and Methods

We screened AKI-related data sets using the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with AKI. KEGG and GO analysis were used to identify enriched molecular functions and pathways. The study included 62 SA patients admitted to the Department of Intensive Care Medicine of our hospital from February 2021 to June 2022, including 34 non-AKI cases and 28 AKI cases, and 25 healthy volunteers were used as the control group. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to detect the levels of NLRP3 and IL-18 in PBMCs of the subjects.

Results

Bioinformatics analysis and experimental validation showed that the expression levels of NLRP3 and IL-18 were significantly upregulated in SA-AKI patients. In addition, the expressions of NLRP3 and IL-18 were positively correlated with APACHE II scores. ROC curve analysis revealed that NLRP3 and IL-18 have the potential to diagnose SA-AKI.

Conclusion

This study provides preliminary evidence for NLRP3 and IL-18 as potential diagnostic biomarkers for SA-AKI.