Abstract:

Objective To investigate the relationship between serum human epididymis protein 4 （HE4） levels and renal function in female patients. Methods A total of 683 female patients who underwent HE4 determination at Shanghai Hongkou District Jiangwan Hospital from January to December 2024 were enrolled. The serum HE4，serum creatinine（SCr）and cystatin C（Cys C）levels were determined，and the estimated glomerular filtration rate （eGFR） was calculated. All the patients were classified into stage 1 [eGFR≥90 mL·（min·1.73 m²）^-1] group（184 cases），stage 2 [eGFR 60-89 mL·（min·1.73 m²）^-1] group（281 cases），stage 3 [eGFR 30-59 mL·（min·1.73 m²）^-1] group（161 cases）and stage 4-5 [eGFR<30 mL·（min·1.73 m²）^-1] group（57 cases）according to the chronic kidney disease（CKD）staging criteria published by the Kidney Disease：Improving Global Outcomes（KDIGO）. Spearman correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between HE4 and eGFR，age. Stepwise linear regression analysis was used to evaluate the influencing factors of HE4. The ln function was used to transform the HE4 data. Results The age and serum HE4 levels of the stage 1 group，stage 2 group，stage 3 group and stage 4-5 group were increased successively（P<0.01）. HE4 was negatively correlated with eGFR（r=-0.799，P<0.01），and it was positively correlated with age（r=0.761，P<0.01）. HE4 was highly correlated with eGFR，and the regression equation was Y_HE4=-3.53X_eGFR+386（β=-0.623，t=-20.8，P<0.01）. The ln（HE4） was negatively correlated with eGFR（r=-0.773，P<0.01）. Conclusions The increased serum HE4 levels in female patients is related to decreased eGFR. Clinically，when using HE4 to assess the risk of ovarian malignant tumors，the influence of patients' renal function should be considered，and decisions should be made with caution.

Key words: Human epididymis protein 4, Estimated glomerular filtration rate, Renal function, Female