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Previous Volume 359:584-592 August 7, 2008 Number 6 Next

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ABSTRACT

Background Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) is a hormone that increases the rate of urinary excretion of phosphate and inhibits renal production of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, thus helping to mitigate hyperphosphatemia in patients with kidney disease. Hyperphosphatemia and low 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D levels are associated with mortality among patients with chronic kidney disease, but the effect of the level of FGF-23 on mortality is unknown.

Methods We examined mortality according to serum phosphate levels in a prospective cohort of 10,044 patients who were beginning hemodialysis treatment and then analyzed FGF-23 levels and mortality in a nested case–control sample of 200 subjects who died and 200 who survived during the first year of hemodialysis treatment. We hypothesized that increased FGF-23 levels at the initiation of hemodialysis would be associated with increased mortality.

Results Serum phosphate levels in the highest quartile (>5.5 mg per deciliter [1.8 mmol per liter]) were associated with a 20% increase in the multivariable adjusted risk of death, as compared with normal levels (3.5 to 4.5 mg per deciliter [1.1 to 1.4 mmol per liter]) (hazard ratio, 1.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1 to 1.4). Median C-terminal FGF-23 (cFGF-23) levels were significantly higher in case subjects than in controls (2260 vs. 1406 reference units per milliliter, P<0.001). Multivariable adjusted analyses showed that increasing FGF-23 levels were associated with a monotonically increasing risk of death when examined either on a continuous scale (odds ratio per unit increase in log-transformed cFGF-23 values, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.4 to 2.4) or in quartiles, with quartile 1 as the reference category (odds ratio for quartile 2, 1.6 [95% CI, 0.8 to 3.3]; for quartile 3, 4.5 [95% CI, 2.2 to 9.4]; and for quartile 4, 5.7 [95% CI, 2.6 to 12.6]).

Conclusions Increased FGF-23 levels appear to be independently associated with mortality among patients who are beginning hemodialysis treatment. Future studies might investigate whether FGF-23 is a potential biomarker that can be used to guide strategies for the management of phosphorus balance in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Source Information

From the Renal Unit (O.M.G., T.I., J.A.R.-H., H.T., A.S., K.S., R.T., M.W.), Endocrine Unit (M.M., H.J.), and Biostatistics Center (H.L.), Department of Medicine, and the Pediatric Nephrology Unit, Department of Pediatrics (H.J.), Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston.

Drs. Gutiérrez and Mannstadt contributed equally to this article.

Address reprint requests to Dr. Wolf at the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, 1120 NW 14th St., Miami, FL 33136, or at mwolf2{at}med.miami.edu.

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