Biomarkers of sickle cell nephropathy in Senegal

What is it about?

Sickle cell anemia (SCA) can be defined as an autosomal recessive inherited hemoglobinopathy characterized by the presence of HbS. In case of hypoxia, HbS loses its solubility and polymerizes leading to falciformation of red blood cells causing hemolytic and vaso-occlusive crises. The recurrence of attacks is the cause of several types of complications including nephropathy. The renal manifestations of SCA can be glomerular and/or tubular, structural and/or functional. The occurrence of these renal complications increases the mortality of the disease. In this context, we set ourselves the goal of identifying routinely available biomarkers in our resource-limited countries that would allow regular assessment of the health status of patients' kidneys.

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Why is it important?

To achieve this goal, we undertook a case-control study, with cases being SCA patients with normal fasting blood glucose and controls being assumed healthy subjects. In this study, albuminuria, proteinuria, tubular proteinuria, glucosuria, glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and urine specific gravity were determined. The results obtained allowed the definition of microglucosuria as a urine glucose/creatinine ratio (UGCR) ≥ 20 mg/g and which could not be detected by a dipstick. Similarly, they defined grade A2 albuminuria (microalbuminuria), hyposthenuria, proteinuria, tubular proteinuria, glomerular hyperfiltration. Then, the results were compared using the chi-square test, and when an association was established, the odds ratio was then calculated.

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