Role of microalbuminuria, creatinine, glomerular filtration rate and body mass index in predicting early nephropathy in patients with sickle cell disease

Background: Notably, sickle cell disease (SCD) is a major risk for renal problems. Proteinuria is a feature of sickle cell nephropathy that can develop into end-stage renal disease. Objective: The main goal of this study was to assess the link between microalbuminuria, creatinine, glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and body mass index (BMI) with the predicting early nephropathy in sickle cell disease patients who were admitted to Kosti Teaching Hospital during the period from June to August 2018. Materials and Methods: A total of 156 SCD participants were enrolled in this study. Venous blood and fresh urine samples were collected from each participant using sterile containers. Serum creatinine and urine microalbuminuria were measured. Results: Out of 156 patients, 61.5% were underweight. Interestingly, a decline in creatinine level and GFR was observed in 21.1% and 64.7% of the SCD cases, respectively. Likewise, microalbuminuria was detected in 55.8% of participants. Notably, the duration of SCD (P < 0.05), creatinine level (P < 0.05), age (P < 0.05) and microalbuminuria (P < 0.05) was significantly positively correlated with BMI. SCD duration, GFR, microalbuminuria, weight and highest exhibited a significant positive correlation with creatinine. Furthermore, GFR has presented a positive correlation with weight and highest, P < 0.05. In addition, weight displayed a positive correlation (P < 0.000) with disease duration. Conclusion: Altogether, the study findings highlighted the link of BMI, creatinine, microalbuminuria and GFR with SCD, which is significant in the prediction and assessment of early nephropathy in SCD patients.