Nguyen KT, Le NH, Le TV, Pham DT, Nguyen TA, Nguyen LC, Do SN. Concentration and predictive value of plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin in patients with acute pancreatitis and acute kidney injury. World J Nephrol 2025; 14(4): 111343 [DOI: 10.5527/wjn.v14.i4.111343]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Nhuong Huu Le, PhD, Department of Gastroenterology and Hematology, Military Hospital 354, 120 Doc Ngu, Ha Noi 118000, Viet Nam. lehuunhuong@gmail.com
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Gastroenterology & Hepatology
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Prospective Study
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This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Dec 25, 2025 (publication date) through Dec 23, 2025
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World Journal of Nephrology
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Nguyen KT, Le NH, Le TV, Pham DT, Nguyen TA, Nguyen LC, Do SN. Concentration and predictive value of plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin in patients with acute pancreatitis and acute kidney injury. World J Nephrol 2025; 14(4): 111343 [DOI: 10.5527/wjn.v14.i4.111343]
World J Nephrol. Dec 25, 2025; 14(4): 111343 Published online Dec 25, 2025. doi: 10.5527/wjn.v14.i4.111343
Concentration and predictive value of plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin in patients with acute pancreatitis and acute kidney injury
Kien Trung Nguyen, Nhuong Huu Le, Thang Viet Le, Dung Thai Pham, Tuan Anh Nguyen, Long Cong Nguyen, Son Ngoc Do
Kien Trung Nguyen, Division of Treatment, Military Medical Department, Ha Noi 114000, Viet Nam
Nhuong Huu Le, Department of Gastroenterology and Hematology, Military Hospital 354, Ha Noi 118000, Viet Nam
Thang Viet Le, Department of Nephrology and Hemodialysis, Military Hospital 103, Ha Noi 121000, Viet Nam
Dung Thai Pham, Center of Emergency, Critical Care Medicine and Clinical Toxicology, Military Hospital 103, Ha Noi 121000, Viet Nam
Tuan Anh Nguyen, Center of Emergency, Bach Mai Hospital, Ha Noi 115000, Viet Nam
Long Cong Nguyen, Center of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Bach Mai Hospital, Ha Noi 115000, Viet Nam
Son Ngoc Do, Center for Critical Care Medicine, Bach Mai Hospital, Ha Noi 115000, Viet Nam
Author contributions: All authors were involved in the conceptualization of the manuscript and its development, execution, analysis of results, primary drafting, and critical revision, and have read and agreed to the published version.
Institutional review board statement: The study protocol was approved by the ethics committee of Bach Mai Hospital (No. 3094/BVBM-HDD/2021).
Informed consent statement: All the patients provided informed consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT 2010 Statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT 2010 Statement.
Data sharing statement: The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Nhuong Huu Le, PhD, Department of Gastroenterology and Hematology, Military Hospital 354, 120 Doc Ngu, Ha Noi 118000, Viet Nam. lehuunhuong@gmail.com
Received: July 1, 2025 Revised: July 18, 2025 Accepted: October 30, 2025 Published online: December 25, 2025 Processing time: 178 Days and 20.4 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a severe complication of acute pancreatitis (AP) associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Early prediction of AKI remains a clinical challenge owing to the limitations of traditional biomarkers, such as serum creatinine.
AIM
To evaluate the concentration and predictive value of plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) in patients with AP and AKI.
METHODS
This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted from October 2021 to June 2023 at Bach Mai Hospital. In total, 219 patients were enrolled, including 51 patients with AP and AKI, 168 patients with AP but without AKI, and 35 healthy controls. Plasma NGAL levels were measured and compared between groups. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to determine the predictive value of NGAL levels for the severity of AKI and AP.
RESULTS
Among AP and AKI cases, 47.1% were classified as Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes stage 1, 33.3% as stage 2, and 19.6% as stage 3. The AP with AKI group (570.9 ng/mL) had significantly higher median plasma NGAL concentrations than the AP without AKI group (400.6 ng/mL) and the healthy control group (234.3 ng/mL) (P < 0.01). The NGAL levels increased proportionally with AKI severity. A plasma NGAL cutoff value of 504.29 ng/mL predicted AKI with 60.8% sensitivity and 68.4% specificity (area under the curve = 0.684; P < 0.001). A cutoff of 486.03 ng/mL predicted AP severity with 66.1% sensitivity and 66.4% specificity (area under the curve = 0.651; P < 0.005). NGAL positively correlated with international normalized ratio, urea, creatinine, lactate dehydrogenase, and lactate levels.
CONCLUSION
Plasma NGAL levels predicted both AKI development and disease severity. Therefore, NGAL should be considered a useful biomarker for the early evaluation of patients with AP.
Core Tip: Severe acute pancreatitis (AP) is frequently associated with multiple complications, including acute kidney injury (AKI). In clinical practice, the early diagnosis of AKI remains challenging. This study provides evidence of the value of plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin in predicting the occurrence of AKI, assessing the severity of AP, and forecasting the need for continuous renal replacement therapy in patients with AP complicated by AKI. Additionally, we analyzed the correlation between plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin levels and clinical and paraclinical characteristics.
