Low Serum Creatine Kinase Level Predicts Mortality in Patients with a Chronic Kidney Disease

BackgroundSerum creatine kinase (sCK) reflects CK activity from striated skeletal muscle. Muscle wasting is a risk factor for mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The aim of this study is to evaluate whether sCK is a predictor of mortality and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in a CKD population.MethodsWe included 1801 non-dialysis-dependent CKD patients from the NephroTest cohort. We used time-fixed and time-dependent cause-specific Cox models to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) for the risk of death and for the risk of ESRD associated with gender-specific sCK tertiles.ResultsHigher sCK level at baseline was associated with a lower age, a higher body mass index, and a higher level of 24 h urinary creatinine excretion, serum albumin and prealbumin (pConclusionA low level of sCK is associated with an increased risk of death in a CKD population. sCK levels might reflect muscle mass and nutritional status.