Each of the models confirmed that IL-34 was an independent predictor for the presence of CKD among patients with HF, either adjusted for age and gender, or adjusted for the full model including age, gender, BMI, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hsCRP, NT-proBNP, hemoglobin, albumin and NYHA functional class (Table 3). Here, NPPB is linked to chronic kidney disease.