Background: Until now, a normal reference range for glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in adult Indian potential kidney donors has not been determined and values from a western population are being used as reference.
Aim: To determine the reference range of GFR in healthy adult Indian potential kidney donors.
Basic procedures: GFR was measured in 610 (250 male, 360 female, average age 35.16 years) healthy potential kidney donors using the 99mTc-DTPA (diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid) two-plasma sample method of Russell.
Results: The mean body surface area (BSA)-normalized GFR value of a young healthy Indian adult potential kidney donor was calculated as 81.4 +/- 19.4 ml/min/1.73 m2 BSA--for males it was 82.3 +/- 21.3 ml/min/1.73 m2 BSA and for females 80.8 +/- 18.1 ml/min/1.73 m2 BSA. There was no significant difference between derived mean GFR values in males and females with a p value of 0.37.
Conclusions: The normal GFR value for the healthy Indian adult potential kidney donor appears to be much lower than the accepted value for a western population. The mean GFR value of a young healthy Indian adult potential kidney donor is 81.4 +/- 19.4 ml/min/1.73 m2 BSA, which is significantly different from the normal value of 109-125 ml/min derived from a western population. These findings might be useful in deciding on a suitable kidney donor in an Indian context.