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Infection and sepsis are common after acute kidney injury (AKI) and increase mortality. In this study, the investigators will determine whether patients with acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery have immunosuppression as judged by blood markers of immunoparalysis.

Immunoparalysis is an immunosuppressed state that occurs after a wide variety of insults including sepsis and cardiopulmonary bypass surgery. Due to the impaired infection fighting ability, patients with immunoparalysis are at risk of subsequent infection which can increase mortality. Immunoparalysis can be measured by two methods: 1) ex vivo endotoxin stimulation and 2) blood monocyte HLA-DR levels. Since sepsis is also a known complication of Acute Kidney Injury(AKI), the investigators hypothesize that AKI is a risk factor for immunoparalysis. The investigators plan to look at these blood factors of immune function from patients before and 3 days following cardiac surgery. Urine will also be collected from the patients before their surgery as well as the 3 days following for AKI biomarker measurement. This prospective cohort will enroll 300 patients and determine the duration and severity of immunoparalysis among patients who develop AKI and those who do not develop AKI.

Inclusion Criteria:

• All adults undergoing cardiac surgery with CPB will be considered for enrollment.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Factors that affect immune function or AKI assessment are the basis for exclusion criteria:

  • Concurrent disease associated with immunosuppression including malignancy, chronic infection (e.g., HIV, Hepatitis C), organ transplant and immunosuppressant medications
  • Documented acute infection with the past 1 month (e.g., pneumonia, urinary tract infection)
  • Prednisone or other steroid use currently or within the past one month
  • AKI at the time of surgery
  • ESRD requiring renal replacement therapy
  • Estimated GFR <45 mL/min (as judged by the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equation

Adults undergoing cardiac surggery with CPB at University of Colorado Hospital (UCH)