Salt-water imbalance and fluid overload in hemodialysis patients: a pivotal role of corin

Natriuretic peptides (NP) play a key role in regulation of salt and water balance. Corin, a serine protease which activates NP, plays a key role in regulation of blood pressure and cardiac function. The aim of the study was to evaluate the involvement of corin in renal physiopathology, analyze its levels in dialyzed patients and evaluate its relation with fluid overload and comorbidities such as heart failure and blood hypertension. We studied serum corin in uremic patients (n = 20) undergoing hemodialysis therapy (HD) and in healthy subjects (HS). Corin levels in uremic patients were higher than in HS (p < 0.0001). Moreover, its concentration did not change after a single HD session. Hypertensive patients and subject suffering from heart failure were characterized by high values of corin. After multivariate analysis, direct correlations were maintained between corin and dialysis vintage (β = 0.83; p = 0.0002), heart failure (β = 0.42; p < 0.0001), systolic blood pressure (β = -0.70; p = 0.0002) and body weight (β = -0.39; p < 0.0001). Corin might be implicated in the regulation of salt and water balance and the disturbances of volume homeostasis of HD patients. However, further studies are warranted to understand the role of corin in kidney diseases and to define its diagnostic and prognostic role.