Evaluation of urinary FOXP3 mRNA as a biomarker of lupus nephritis in Egyptian patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Bibliographic Information
Authors: Fayed A.; Mohamed A.; Ahmed R.A.; Abouzeid S.; Soliman A.; Fathy A.
Journal: Lupus
Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
Publication Date: 8 July 2021
Volume / Issue: Volume 30 / Issue 10
Pages: 1631–1636
ISSN: 9612033
DOI: 10.1177/09612033211030559
Scopus: View on Scopus
PubMed: 34238088
Document Type: Article
Authors and Affiliations
Fayed A., Nephrology unit, Internal Medicine Department, Kasr Alainy School of Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt; Mohamed A., Nephrology unit, Internal Medicine Department, Kasr Alainy School of Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt; Ahmed R.A., Nephrology unit, Internal Medicine Department, Kasr Alainy School of Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt; Abouzeid S., Nephrology Department, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, Cairo, Egypt; Soliman A., Nephrology unit, Internal Medicine Department, Kasr Alainy School of Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt; Fathy A., Nephrology unit, Internal Medicine Department, Kasr Alainy School of Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt
Abstract
Aim: Lupus nephritis (LN) is one of the most serious complications of SLE. Tregs (Regulatory T lymphocytes) are thought to play a part in the pathogenesis of SLE. According to recent research, Foxp3, a Treg identification marker, plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of SLE. This study aimed to compare the urinary Foxp3 mRNA levels of patients with active and inactive forms of LN and healthy control subjects to see whether it played a role in disease activity. Methods: We measured FOXP3 messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in the urine of 50 people with active LN, 50 people with inactive lupus, and 50 healthy people. Results: We found that the expression level of FOXP3 was significantly higher in urine from patients with active LN than from subjects with inactive lupus and healthy controls (22.93 ± 4.13 vs 5.66 ± 0.47 vs 0.57 ± 0.15copy; P < 0.001). Urinary FOXP3 mRNA level significantly correlated with SLEDAI (0.000057) In the active group, urinary FOXP3 mRNA level also significantly correlated with histological activity index (< 0.00001). Conclusion: We concluded that urinary FOXP3 mRNA is elevated in patients with active LN and that it is linked to the SLEDAI and the severity of the disease. FOXP3 mRNA in urine sediment may be used as a non-invasive biomarker for evaluating the severity of LN and risk stratification. © The Author(s) 2021.
Keywords
Foxp3 mRNA; lupus nephritis; SLE; Tregs; Biomarkers; Egypt; Forkhead Transcription Factors; Humans; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic; RNA, Messenger; genomic DNA; messenger RNA; transcription factor FOXP3; biological marker; forkhead transcription factor; FOXP3 protein, human; adult; Article; case control study; chronicity; controlled study; disease activity; disease severity; Egyptian; female; hematuria; human; human cell; human tissue; kidney biopsy; lupus erythematosus nephritis; major clinical study; male; mRNA expression level; prospective study; protein urine level; proteinuria; pyuria; regulatory T lymphocyte; SLEDAI; systemic lupus erythematosus; urine sediment; chemistry; genetics
Citation Information
Scopus Citations: 5
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