Relationships of urinary liver-type fatty acid-binding protein and serum galectin-3 with early renal dysfunction in gout patients

Objective To investigate the relationships of urinary liver-type fatty acid-binding protein (L-FABP) and serum galectin-3 (Gal-3) with early renal dysfunction in gout patients.

Methods A total of 124 gout patients in the hospital from January 2022 to December 2023 were selected as gout group, and they were divided into non-renal injury group with 42 cases and early renal injury group with 82 cases according to the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR). Additionally, 40 healthy volunteers with physical examinations in the hospital in the same period were selected as control group. The levels of urea nitrogen, creatinine, cystatin C, urinary L-FABP, and serum Gal-3 were measured in all participants. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the diagnostic value of urinary L-FABP and serum Gal-3 for early renal dysfunction in gout patients.

Results The levels of cystatin C, urinary L-FABP, and serum Gal-3 in the gout group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The levels of cystatin C, urinary L-FABP, and serum Gal-3 in the early renal injury group were significantly higher than those in the non-renal injury group (P < 0.05). Pearson analysis showed that urinary L-FABP level in gout patients was significantly positively correlated with UACR, cystatin C, and serum Gal-3 (P < 0.05), and serum Gal-3 level in gout patients was significantly positively correlated with UACR, cystatin C, and urinary L-FABP (P < 0.05). ROC curve analysis indicated that urinary L-FABP and serum Gal-3 had high diagnostic values for assessing early renal dysfunction in gout patients, with areas under the curve (AUCs) of 0.804 (95%CI, 0.726 to 0.882) and 0.781 (95%CI, 0.697 to 0.866) respectively. The AUC for the combination of urinary L-FABP and serum Gal-3 was 0.923 (95%CI, 0.874 to 0.972).

Conclusion The levels of urinary L-FABP and serum Gal-3 are abnormally elevated in gout patients, and their expression levels are closely related to early renal dysfunction. The combination of urinary L-FABP and serum Gal-3 has a high diagnostic value for early renal dysfunction in gout patients.