Evidence Hub

Genetic variants and cell-free hemoglobin processing in sickle cell nephropathy

Saraf SL, Zhang X, Shah B, Kanias T, Gudehithlu KP, Kittles R, Machado RF, Arruda JA et al.

Haematologica, 2015

487 participants

Abstract

Intravascular hemolysis and hemoglobinuria are associated with sickle cell nephropathy. ApoL1 is involved in cell-free hemoglobin scavenging through association with haptoglobin-related protein. APOL1 G1/G2 variants are the strongest genetic predictors of kidney disease in the general African-American population. A single report associated APOL1 G1/G2 with sickle cell nephropathy. In 221 patients with sickle cell disease at the University of Illinois at Chicago, we replicated the finding of an association of APOL1 G1/G2 with proteinuria, specifically with urine albumin concentration (β=1.1, P=0.003), observed an even stronger association with hemoglobinuria (OR=2.5, P=4.3×10(-6)), and also replicated the finding of an association with hemoglobinuria in 487 patients from the Walk-Treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension and Sickle cell Disease with Sildenafil Therapy study (OR=2.6, P=0.003). In 25 University of Illinois sickle cell disease patients, concentrations of urine kidney injury molecule-1 correlated with urine cell-free hemoglobin concentrations (r=0.59, P=0.002). Exposing human proximal tubular cells to increasing cell-free hemoglobin led to increasing concentrations of supernatant kidney injury molecule-1 (P=0.01), reduced viability (P=0.01) and induction of HMOX1 and SOD2. HMOX1 rs743811 associated with chronic kidney disease stage (OR=3.0, P=0.0001) in the University of Illinois cohort and end-stage renal disease (OR=10.0, P=0.0003) in the Walk-Treatment of Pulmonary…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a cohort study, done in people. Its evidence level is 3 of 5 (Moderate · trial / cohort / secondary analysis). Trials without a large randomized design, cohorts and secondary analyses give moderate evidence. Reported size: 487 participants or records.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

Read the paper

Related studies

Go deeper in Evidence Hub

Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.

Open this study Sign up free