High Urinary Levels of Certain Molecules: Potential Biomarker of Lupus Nephritis

Filed in archive Diagnostics , Lupus , Studies on November 27, 2007

Elevated levels of all four compounds - VCAM-1, P-selection, TNFR-1 and CXCL 16 - in the urine have the potential to serve as biomarkers for a potentially life-shortening kidney ailment caused by the autoimmune disease lupus - lupus nephritis.




Such were the findings of UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers.

According to Dr. Chandra Mohan, professor of internal medicine and senior author of a study available online at the Journal of Immunology:

"Our studies suggest a quartet of molecules may have potential diagnostic significance. Given that early intervention in lupus nephritis is associated with better treatment outcome, it is imperative that disease activity in the kidney be diagnosed as early as possible.

It would be very beneficial to detect the presence of nephritis early in order to administer therapies to stop the immune system from destroying the kidney. There is an urgent need for a biomarker that one could potentially use to predict the onset of nephritis. That is what we're trying to discover with this research."

Currently available most reliable for monitoring renal disease in lupus patients is to measure the level of protein excreted in urine.

IN mice, the research team determined that the mice harbored increased levels of all four molecules in the urine - VCAM-1, P-selection, TNFR-1 and CXCL 16- particularly at the peak of their lupus-associated kidney disease.

And then the researchers also tested the urine of lupus patients and found that they not only had high protein levels in their urine, but also elevated levels of all four compounds.

Find more details from UT Southwestern Medical Center.