Impact of transferrin saturation on cardiovascular events in non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease patients treated with darbepoetin alfa

Background Although the widespread use of long-acting erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) has facilitated the improvement of anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), the improvement in prognosis has not been fully demonstrated.

Iron deficiency is associated with the development of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), and the relative iron deficiency induced by erythropoiesis-stimulating agents may prevent the improvement of prognosis.

Therefore, we investigated the association between iron deficiency and cardiovascular events during long-acting erythropoiesis-stimulating agent therapy using transferrin saturation (TSAT), which is less susceptible to inflammation than ferritin.

Methods This study included 1040 patients with non-dialysis-dependent CKD, aged ≥ 20 years, with a glomerular filtration rate < 60 mL/min/1.73 m^2 and hemoglobin < 11 g/dL, who were treated with darbepoetin alfa for 96 weeks.

The patients were recruited in the BRIGHTEN Trial, a multicenter, prospective, observational study conducted to evaluate erythropoiesis-stimulating agent resistance to darbepoetin alfa in treating anemia in non-dialysis-dependent CKD in a clinical setting.

The association between transferrin saturation and the cumulative incidence of cardiovascular events was evaluated using the Kaplan–Meier method.

To calculate the hazard ratio (HR), 95% confidence intervals (CI) and the Cox proportional hazards model were used.

Results Survival curve analysis for cardiovascular events indicated that patients with transferrin saturation ≥ 30% had a significantly better prognosis, with an adjusted hazard ratio of 0.34 (95% confidence interval 0.22–0.52).

Stratified analysis revealed that patients with transferrin saturation of 30–40% had a significantly lower risk of cardiovascular events than those with transferrin saturation of 20–30%, even after a multivariate-adjusted hazard ratio of 0.33 (95% confidence interval 0.21–0.54).

Conclusion Patients with CKD and transferrin saturation of 30–40% had significantly fewer cardiovascular events than those with transferrin saturation of 20–30% among patients treated with long-acting erythropoiesis-stimulating agents.

Therefore, it may be useful to maintain higher transferrin saturation from the viewpoint of erythropoiesis-stimulating agent responsiveness and the reduction of cardiovascular events.

Graphical Abstract