Abstract: Objective This study was to evaluate whether kidney injury molecule-1(KIM-1) had predictive value in the early stage of sepsis-induced renal injury. Methods Totally 176 patients with sepsis were included in the study in the emergency department of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital during Oct. 2007 to Oct. 2008, with 50 healthy volunteers as control group. The levels of KIM-1, beta 2-microglobulin (β₂-MG) in serum were detected respectively. The incidence rate of acute kidney injury (AKI) and death rate were recorded after 28 days follow-up. Results In the following 28 days, 51 subjects(29%)developed AKI. KIM-1 increased significantly (P<0.05) in septic patients compared with the control group. With the rising of KIM-1, the incidence of AKI increased. Logistic regression analyses showed that high urinary KIM-1 was an independent risk factor to predict creatinine increase(OR: 1.416, 95% CI: 1.155-1.737). The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve was greater (AUC=0.879, P<0.05) for predicting AKI. Conclusion KIM-1 increases in the early stage of renal damage, which associates with the severity of acute kidney injury. KIM-1 is a potential predictive factor in sepsis-induced renal injury.

Key words: kidney injury molecule-1, beta 2-microglobulin, sepsis, acute kidney injury