Table 4.
The blood or urinary molecules as non-invasive biomarkers of kidney fibrosis
| Biomarker | Relationship in kidney fibrosis | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Angiostatin | The levels of urinary angiostatin/creatinine in patients are associated with tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis | 345 |
| C3M | C3M in urine inversely correlates with tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis | 346 |
| C5a, C5b-9 | The plasma C5a level is correlated with the proportion of segmental sclerotic glomeruli. The plasma and urinary levels of C5b-9 are correlated with interstitial fibrosis | 347 |
| CCL5, CXCL1 | Urinary sediment CCL5 and CXCL1 mRNAs are associated with interstitial fibrosis degree | 348 |
| CD11c+ macrophages | The numbers and proportions of urinary CD11c+ macrophages are associated with the values of chronicity indices such as tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis | 349 |
| CDH11, SMOC2, PEDF | Higher levels of plasma CDH11, SMOC2, and PEDF and urinary CDH11 and PEDF are significantly associated with increasing severity of interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy | 350 |
| CXCL16, Endostatin | Urinary CXCL16 and endostatin are correlated with tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis score | 351 |
| DcR2 | Urinary DcR2 level is correlated with scores of tubulointerstitial injury | 352,353 |
| DKK3 | Urinary DKK3 is related to the extent of tubulointerstitial fibrosis. DKK3 in serum is associated with higher chronicity index at biopsy and flares rate | 354–356 |
| EGF | Urinary EGF shows significant correlation with intrarenal EGF mRNA, and tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis | 357 |
| L-FABP | Urinary L-FABP is positively associated with interstitial fibrosis | 358 |
| Fibrinogen | Urinary fibrinogen correlates with tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis | 359 |
| Fractalkine | Plasma fractalkine is associated with mesangial hypercellularity pathological damage, CD68+ macrophage, and CD20+ B cell infiltration in renal tissue and renal outcome in IgAN patients | 360 |
| Gal-3 | Higher plasma Gal-3 levels are associated with interstitial fibrosis, tubular atrophy, and vascular intimal fibrosis | 361 |
| KIM-1 | Urinary KIM-1 is associated with inflammation, renal function, and also reflects KIM-1 in tissue. Plasma KIM-1 is also associated with tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis | 362,363 |
| LOX | Serum LOX levels correlates with the area of kidney fibrosis | 364 |
| MMP-7 | Urinary MMP-7 correlates with renal fibrosis scores in CKD patients | 365 |
| miR-196a | Urinary miR-196a is associated with glomerular sclerosis and tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis | 366,367 |
| MCP-1 | Urinary MCP-1 correlates with chronic damage, especially fibrous crescents, and tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis | 368 |
| mtDNA | Urinary mtDNA has positive correlations with interstitial fibrosis | 369,370 |
| PTC-EMPs | Urinary PTC-EMPs levels correlates directly with interstitial fibrosis, and inversely with the number of peritubular capillary | 371 |
| Soluble klotho | High serum klotho is associated with decreased odds ratios of interstitial fibrosis and segmental sclerosis. Patients with a lower urinary klotho-to-creatinine ratio are more likely to have diffuse foot process effacement | 372,373 |
| suPAR | Serum suPAR is correlated with tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis score and interstitial inflammation score | 374 |
| TNC | There is a robust correlation between urinary TNC and kidney fibrotic score | 121 |
| VCAM-1 | Urinary VCAM-1 is associated with fibrous crescents | 375,376 |
| VSIG2 | Plasma VSIG2 is positively associated with interstitial fibrosis/tubular atrophy | 362 |
CCL5 C-C motif chemokine ligand 5, CDH11 Cadherin-11, CKD chronic kidney disease, CXCL C-X-C motif chemokine ligand, DcR2 decoy receptor 2, DKK3 Dickkopf-3, EGF epidermal growth factor, Gal-3 Galectin-3, IgAN IgA nephropathy, KIM-1 kidney injury molecule 1, L-FABP liver fatty acid binding protein, LOX lysyl oxidase, MCP-1 monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, MMP-7 matrix metalloproteinase 7, mtDNA mitochondrial DNA, PEDF pigment epithelium-derived factor, PTC-EMP peritubular capillary-endothelial microparticles, SMOC2 Sparc-related modular calcium binding protein-2, SUPER soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor, TNC Tenascin-C, VCAM-1 vascular cell adhesion molecule 1, VSIG2 V-set and immunoglobulin domain containing 2