Copeptin, a surrogate marker for arginine vasopressin, is associated with disease severity and progression in IgA nephropathy patients.

Background. Besides its essential role for water homeostasis, arginine vasopressin (AVP) may have deleterious effects on the kidney. Copeptin, a surrogate marker for AVP, has been shown to be related to renal outcome in patients with diabetic nephropathy and polycystic kidney disease. We investigated the association of copeptin with disease severity and progression in immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN). Methods. We included a prospective cohort of 59 patients with biopsy proven IgAN. Urinary excretion of alpha 1 microglobulin (alpha 1m), beta 2 microglobulin (beta 2m), kidney injury molecule-1, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin and total protein were measured at baseline. Plasma copeptin was determined from stored baseline serum samples. Cox regression was performed for the composite renal outcome defined as doubling of serum creatinine, end-stage renal disease (ESRD) or start of immunosuppressive therapy, and for the individual components during 5-year follow-up. Results. In IgAN patients [male: 72%, age: 42613 years, mean arterial pressure (MAP): 101612mmHg, proteinuria: 1.4 (0.7-2.3) g/day, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR): 48621mL/min/1.73m(2)] median copeptin was 9.4 (5.3-18.4) pmol/L. At baseline, copeptin was associated with alpha 1m [standardized beta (St. beta) = 0.34, P = 0.009], beta 2m (St. beta = 0.33, P = 0.01) and proteinuria (St. beta = 0.36, P = 0.053), adjusted for sex and eGFR. During follow-up, the highest tertile of baseline copeptin was positively associated with the incidence of the composite renal outcome as well as with the individual components of doubling of creatinine, ESRD and start of immunosuppressive therapy. In Cox regression models, copeptin showed prognostic value over MAP, proteinuria and eGFR for the composite renal outcome. Conclusions. Copeptin is associated with disease severity and prognosis in IgAN patients and may have additional prognostic value besides established risk markers.