β-Trace Protein and β2-Microglobulin do not Improve Estimation of Glomerular Filtration Rate in Kidney Transplant Recipients Compared With Creatinine and Cystatin C

Abstract

Reliable estimates of glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) are important for detecting changes in graft function in kidney transplant recipients. Current eGFR equations are based on plasma creatinine and/or cystatin C; however, these are associated with significant bias. This study investigated if equations based on β-trace protein (BTP) and β2-microglobulin (B2M) performed better than the 2021 Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equations based on creatinine and cystatin C among kidney transplant recipients. We included samples and data from the clinical trial CONTEXT. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was measured by plasma clearance of an exogenous marker. The eGFR was calculated using the CKD-EPI equations for estimating GFR from BTP and/or B2M and the 2021 CKD-EPI creatinine and creatinine-cystatin C equations. The GFR estimates were evaluated 3 (n=82) and 12 (n=64) months after transplant using mean bias, precision, and accuracy. Furthermore, we analyzed the ability of the equations to correctly classify the direction of changes in measured GFR from 3 to 12 months. Among the BTP- and B2M-based equations, the combined eGFR-BTP-B2M performed best with respect to precision (SD=7.64 mL/min/1.73 m2) and accuracy (±10% from measured GFR=36%). The eGFR-BTP-B2M and the eGFR-creatinine-cystatin C (2021) performed similarly when comparing precision, accuracy, and residuals (P=.481). The BTP- and/or B2M-based equations did not perform better than the eGFR-creatinine-cystatin C (2021) in correctly classifying the direction of changes in measured GFR from 3 to 12 months. β-trace protein and/or B2M do not improve the estimation of GFR when compared with creatinine- and cystatin C-based 2021 CKD-EPI equations.