Urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated Lipocalin (NGAL) as a novel predictor in treatment of active lupus nephritis

Abstract

SLE is a chronic inflammatory disease that is associated with a broad spectrum of clinical and immunologic manifestations, of which lupus nephritis which affects about 50% of patients and is a major risk factor for overall morbidity and mortality in SLE. Biomarkers help in accurate assessment of disease activity and enable the physician to individualize the therapy, Neutrophil Gelatinase associated lipocalin has emerged as one of the new promising biomarker for the diagnosis of kidney injury. It has been found to be a significant predictor of disease activity and flare, whereas in patients with an existing renal disease it is a predictor of disease progression. The aim of our study aim was to measure urinary NGAL among Lupus Nephritis patients to correlate levels of urinary NGAL with the severity of renal disease activity and investigate its predictive performance in renal response after induction therapy. Our study was conducted on 40 randomly selected SLE patients from Ain Shams University Hospitals with biopsy-proven LN class III, IV or V, age 16 years old or more. Female patients were 35, and SLE duration ranged from recently diagnosed patients up to 10 years.