Society of Diabetic Nephropathy Prevention Journal of Nephropathology 2251-8363 15 1 2026 01 01 Association of life’s essential 8 as a Cardiovascular Health Index with risk of chronic kidney disease; a systematic review and meta-analysis e27655 e27655 10.34172/jnp.2025.27655 EN Saeid Bejarzehi https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3063-6928 Fatemeh Vahmani https://orcid.org/0009-0006-2048-7057 Amir Heidari https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9802-7487 Fariba Jafari Khabaz https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1956-5795 Faeze Shafie Bafti https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7571-8859 Jalal Nourmohammadi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6071-3040 Reyhaneh Sadeghian https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2974-7653 Reza Faramarzzadeh https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3201-5261 Mohammad Rostamzadeh https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6817-7467 Journal Article 10.34172/jnp.2025.27655 2025 05 30 2025 09 02 Introduction: Due to the close association between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD), maintaining optimal cardiovascular health (CVH) may serve as a preventive strategy to reduce the risk of CKD and its related health burden. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the association between Life’s Essential 8 (LE8) and the risk of CKD. Materials and Methods: This study systematically searched the Cochrane, Embase, PubMed, ProQuest, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases up to April 26, 2025. Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 19 and STATA version 14. Results: An increase in the LE8 score was associated with a reduced risk of CKD, as indicated by the odds ratio (OR: 0.74, 95% CI: 0.67–0.82) and hazard ratio (HR: 0.60, 95% CI: 0.46–0.77). The protective effect of higher LE8 scores was observed across various subgroups: individuals aged 40–49 (OR: 0.81, 95% CI: 0.78–0.84), 50–59 (OR: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.60–0.94), males (OR: 0.81, 95% CI: 0.76–0.87), females (OR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.87–0.95), and populations from the UK (OR: 0.60, 95% CI: 0.46–0.77), China (OR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.63–0.65), and the USA (OR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.72–0.81). Similarly, both cohort studies (OR: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.54–0.81) and cross-sectional studies (OR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.66–0.81) confirmed this inverse association. Moreover, compared to low LE8 scores, moderate (OR: 0.58, 95% CI: 0.52–0.65) and high (OR: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.35–0.53) LE8 scores were significantly associated with reduced CKD risk. Conclusion: An increase in the LE8 score was associated with a greater reduction in the risk of CKD in older age groups compared to younger ones, and in men compared to women. Moreover, the higher the LE8 score, the lower the risk of developing CKD. Registration: This study has been compiled based on the PRISMA checklist, and its protocol was registered on the PROSPERO (ID: CRD420251043587) and Research Registry (UIN: reviewregistry2006) websites.