Assessment of renal function in obese and overweight children with NGAL and KIM-1 biomarkers.

Aim and background: the incidence of obesity has increased among children, and obesity has been considered an independent risk factor for chronic kidney disease. We aimed to determine the degree of kidney function impairment by evaluating urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) levels. Materials and methods: in total, 15 obese, 26 overweight, and 26 control adolescents aged 10 to 16 years were enrolled into the study. Urine samples were evaluated for NGAL and KIM-1 levels using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. We investigated the association between obesity and related comorbidities with urinary NGAL and KIM-1 excretion. Results: no significant differences were noted between the obese, overweight, and control groups in urinary NGAL and KIM-1 excretion (p = 0.327 and p = 0.917, respectively). In the obese and overweight groups urinary NGAL levels were 50.39 [30.88-74.22] in females and 26.67 [23.24-45.59] in males (p = 0.013). Also, urinary NGAL levels were increased in obese and overweight adolescents with LDL dyslipidemia at 64.12 [30.98-114.32] as compared to those without LDL dyslipidemia: 39.51 [25.59.56.37] (p = 0.024). Furthermore, a correlation was observed between insulin and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance levels with the NGAL/creatinine ratio in the overweight group (r = 0.515; p = 0.008, and r = 0.483; p = 0.014, respectively). Such correlation was not found in the obese group. Conclusion: the effect of obesity on renal function could not be determined in children. A longer exposure may be required for obesity-induced disruption of renal function in children. Renal function may be disrupted by dyslipidemia in obese adolescents. Furthermore, obesity impaired renal function in female adolescents. The normalization of these urinary markers as related to urine creatinine should be discussed.