To examine the relationship between serum GDF15 concentrations and renal function in school-age children born preterm.
Approach:
Participants: Compared 23 preterm-born children with reduced renal function (eGFRcr <90 mL/min/1.73 m²), 83 preterm-born children with normal renal function, and 17 term-born children.
Measurements and analysis: Measured serum GDF15 at age 9 and assessed renal function using a Japanese pediatric creatinine-based eGFR equation. Groups were compared statistically, and associations between GDF15 and eGFRcr were evaluated using Spearman correlations.
Key Findings:
Serum GDF15 concentrations were higher in both preterm groups than in term-born children; the two preterm groups did not differ significantly.
Across all participants, GDF15 was not significantly correlated with eGFRcr (ρ = −0.15, p = 0.10).
In the reduced-renal-function group, GDF15 was inversely correlated with eGFRcr (ρ = −0.43, p = 0.04), but the association was no longer statistically significant after excluding the participant with the lowest eGFRcr.
GDF15 was not significantly correlated with eGFRcr in the preterm group with normal renal function.
Interpretation:
The authors report higher GDF15 concentrations among school-age children born preterm, apparently not explained by reduced renal function alone. The possible association between GDF15 and renal function in the reduced-function group warrants cautious interpretation.
Limitations:
Exploratory, single-center study with a small sample.
Inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress markers were not measured, so mechanisms underlying elevated GDF15 could not be directly evaluated.
The clinical relevance of elevated GDF15 remains uncertain.
Conclusion:
Larger longitudinal studies are needed to determine whether GDF15 reflects ongoing biological stress related to prematurity and whether it is associated with later renal outcomes.
Investigators linked distinct odor patterns to life stage, sex, and skin microbes, while limited longitudinal evidence leaves their clinical utility uncertain.
