TABLE 1.
Baseline characteristics of patients with different levels of proteinuria.
| Total | Urinary protein (g/day) | P-value | |||
| Parameter | n = 490 | <3.5 (n = 177) | 3.5–8.0 (n = 194) | >8.0 (n = 119) | |
| Demographic characteristics | |||||
| Male sex, no. (%) | 301 (61.4%) | 84 (47.5%) | 128 (66.0%) | 89 (74.8%) | <0.001# |
| Age, years | 54.0 (42.0,63.0) | 52.0 (40.5,60.0) | 55.0 (44.0,65.0) | 54.0 (40.0,63.0) | 0.063 |
| Clinical characteristics | |||||
| SBP, mmHg | 131.0 (121.0,142.25) | 126.0 (116.0,138.0) | 131.0 (121.0,145.0) | 137.0 (127.0,149.0) | <0.001* |
| DBP, mmHg | 83.0 (75.0,90.0) | 80.0 (72.0,87.0) | 83.0 (76.0,92.0) | 87.0 (80.0,95.0) | <0.001* |
| Laboratory characteristics | |||||
| Anti-PLA2R Ab, RU/ml | 35.90 (4.31,145.47) | 9.64 (1.59,51.93) | 72.09 (13.99,188.51) | 74.69 (15.39,216.20) | <0.001# |
| Serum anti-PLA2R Ab positive, no. (%) | 295 (60.2%) | 71 (40.1%) | 136 (70.1%) | 88 (73.9%) | <0.001# |
| Albumin, g/L | 23.9 ± 7.0 | 29.4 ± 6.60 | 22.0 ± 5.1 | 19.1 ± 4.4 | <0.001* |
| Baseline 25 (OH)D, nmol/L | 17.7 (9.8,28.5) | 27.4 (18.9,41.2) | 16.0 (9.4,24.5) | 9.9 (3.8,16.2) | <0.001* |
| TC, mmol/L | 6.94 (5.57,8.55) | 5.76 (4.66,7.26) | 7.22 (5.99,8.94) | 8.14 (6.74,9.72) | <0.001* |
| TG, mmol/L | 1.85 (1.34,2.74) | 1.52 (1.13,2.25) | 2.04 (1.48,2.86) | 2.41 (1.61,3.37) | <0.001# |
| HDL-C, mmol/L | 1.36 (1.12,1.63) | 1.33 (1.08,1.63) | 1.39 (1.12,1.64) | 1.39 (1.16,1.73) | 0.252 |
| LDL-C, mmol/L | 4.32 (3.35,5.49) | 3.50 (2.79,4.58) | 4.68 (3.57,5.60) | 5.14 (4.13,6.25) | <0.001* |
| Serum calcium, mmol/L | 1.97 ± 0.17 | 2.07 ± 0.14 | 1.94 ± 0.13 | 1.86 ± 0.19 | <0.001* |
| Serum phosphorus, mmol/L | 1.18 ± 0.21 | 1.18 ± 0.24 | 1.19 ± 0.19 | 1.19 ± 0.22 | 0.761 |
| Serum creatinine, μmol/L | 69.10 (56.58,83.98) | 60.80 (50.85,73.60) | 70.75 (60.20,84.70) | 82.80 (65.30,102.50) | <0.001* |
| eGFR, ml/min/1.73 m2 | 99.33 (83.97,111.40) | 105.4 (95.8,116.6) | 97.9 (82.6,107.2) | 91.00 (67.62,105.72) | <0.001* |
| Uric acid, μmol/L | 373.5 ± 104.6 | 362.9 ± 103.7 | 382.5 ± 103.3 | 374.8 ± 107.4 | 0.169 |
| Serum IgG, g/L | 5.65 (3.87,7.58) | 7.25 (5.32,9.42) | 5.36 (4.04,6.93) | 4.19 (2.85,5.92) | <0.001* |
| Serum IgA, g/L | 2.11 (1.60,2.80) | 2.17 (1.65,2.93) | 2.07 (1.53,2.73) | 2.13 (1.55,2.79) | 0.303 |
| Serum IgM, g/L | 1.03 (0.69,1.41) | 1.08 (0.73,1.48) | 1.10 (0.73,1.40) | 0.93 (0.65,1.39) | 0.387 |
| Serum C3, g/L | 1.0 ± 0.2 | 0.9 ± 0.2 | 1.0 ± 0.2 | 1.0 ± 0.2 | 0.001# |
| Serum C4, g/L | 0.24 (0.20,0.31) | 0.22 (0.18,0.26) | 0.25 (0.20,0.32) | 0.28 (0.23,0.32) | <0.001* |
| Comorbid disease | |||||
| Hypertension no. (%) | 215 (43.9%) | 69 (39.0%) | 82 (42.3%) | 64 (53.8%) | 0.036* |
| Diabetes mellitus no. (%) | 56 (11.4%) | 18 (10.2%) | 19 (9.8%) | 19 (16.0%) | 0.201 |
| Infection no. (%) | 43 (8.8%) | 10 (5.6%) | 17 (8.8%) | 16 (13.4%) | 0.131 |
| Therapy | |||||
| Glucocorticoids no. (%) | 370 (75.5%) | 85 (48.0%) | 175 (90.2%) | 110 (92.4%) | <0.001# |
| Immunosuppressive agents no. (%) | 364 (74.3%) | 100 (56.5%) | 162 (83.5%) | 102 (85.7%) | <0.001# |
| ACEI/ARB no. (%) | 387 (79.0%) | 137 (77.4%) | 153 (78.9%) | 97 (81.5%) | 0.695 |
| VD supplementation no. (%) | 451 (92.0%) | 146 (82.5%) | 186 (95.9%) | 119 (100.0%) | <0.001* |
SBP, systolic blood pressure; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; Anti-PLA2R Ab, serum anti-phospholipase A2 receptor antibody; TC, serum total cholesterol; TG, serum triglycerides; HDL-C, serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-C, serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; IgG, serum immunoglobulin G; IgA, serum immunoglobulin A; IgM, serum immunoglobulin M; C3, serum complement 3; C4, serum complement 4; 25(OH)D, 25-hydroxyvitamin D; ACEI, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor; ARB, angiotensin receptor inhibitor; VD, vitamin D. Urinary protein: 3.5–8.0 g/L (≥3.5 and ≤8.0).
*There was a statistical difference between the groups.
#There was no statistical difference between Group 2 (urinary protein: 3.5–8.0 g/L) and Group 3 (urinary protein > 8.0 g/L).
Data were presented as the mean ± standard, the median with interquartile range or counts and percentages. Bold values denote statistical significance at the P < 0.05 level.