Early Renal Abnormalities in Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease

Background and objectives: Potential therapeutic interventions are being developed for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). A pivotal question will be when to initiate such treatment, and monitoring disease progression will thus become more important. Therefore, the prevalence of renal abnormalities in ADPKD at different ages was evaluated.

Design, setting, participants, & measurements: Included were 103 prevalent ADPKD patients (Ravine criteria). Measured were mean arterial pressure (MAP), total renal volume (TRV), GFR, effective renal plasma flow (ERPF), renal vascular resistance (RVR), and filtration fraction (FF). Twenty-four-hour urine was collected. ADPKD patients were compared with age- and gender-matched healthy controls.

Results: Patients and controls were subdivided into quartiles of age (median ages 28, 37, 42, and 52 years). Patients in the first quartile of age had almost the same GFR when compared with controls, but already a markedly decreased ERPF and an increased FF (GFR 117 +/- 32 versus 129 +/- 17 ml/min, ERPF 374 +/- 119 versus 527 +/- 83 ml/min, FF 32% +/- 4% versus 25% +/- 2%, and RVR 12 (10 to 16) versus 8 (7 to 8) dynes/cm(2), respectively). Young adult ADPKD patients also had higher 24-hour urinary volumes, lower 24-hour urinary osmolarity, and higher urinary albumin excretion (UAE) than healthy controls, although TRV in these young adult patients was modestly enlarged (median 1.0 L).

Conclusions: Already at young adult age, ADPKD patients have marked renal abnormalities, including a decreased ERPF and increased FF and UAE, despite modestly enlarged TRV and near-normal GFR. ERPF, FF, and UAE may thus be better markers for disease severity than GFR. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol 5: 1091-1098, 2010. doi: 10.2215/CJN.00360110