Cystatin-C levels in healthy children and adolescents: Influence of age, gender, body mass index and blood pressure

• Male gender is an independent factor associated to higher levels of Cystatin-C.
• Adolescents have higher levels of Cystatin-C than prepubertal children.
• Overweightness and obesity are associated with higher Cystatin-C levels.

ObjectivesCystatin-C is considered a more sensitive and specific marker of kidney function than creatinine since it can diagnose patients with earlier-stage of renal dysfunction. The aim of this study is to determine the levels of Cystatin-C in healthy children and adolescents as well as any correlations to age, gender, body-mass index (BMI) and blood pressure (BP).Design and methodsCystatin-C was measured in 536 healthy Greek children and adolescents (295 males and 241 females) using a nephelometric immunoassay. Additionally, the age, body mass index and blood pressure was recorded for each subject.ResultsOverall, the mean serum Cystatin-C level was 0.79 ± 0.10 mg/L. Cystatin-C was found to be statistically significantly lower in females than in males (p < 0.001) as well as in prepubertal children compared to adolescents (p < 0.001). Higher values of Cystatin-C were observed in subjects with increased BMI (p < 0.001). Neither systolic nor diastolic blood pressure was found to significantly affect Cystatin-C levels.ConclusionsThe levels of Cystatin-C were statistically significantly higher in males, compared to age-matched females and also positively correlated with age and BMI.