Table 1.
Baseline demographic and laboratory parameters.
| Characteristics | Group of patients | Healthy control | p value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LN-III (n = 12) | LN-IV (n = 32) | LN-V (n = 5) | HC (n = 24) | ||
| Age years | 41.58 ± 5.66 | 35.28 ± 9.02 | 41.20 ± 14.34 | 337.37 ± 9.30 | 0.190 |
| Sex F/M | 12/0 | 29/3 | 4/1 | 21/3 | 0.417 |
| SLEDAI | 13.33 ± 2.8717 | 17.22 ± 3.53 | 15.8 ± 2.49 | nd | 0.003 (∗0.0006, &0.18, #0.3) |
| Urine protein, g/24 hrs | 1.64 ± 0.37 | 3.1 ± 2.89 | 1.96 ± 1.06 | nd | 0.348 |
| C3, g/L | 0.45 ± 0.23 | 0.40 ± 0.24 | 0.37 ± 0.22 | nd | 0.756 |
| C4, g/L | 0.10 ± 0.07 | 0.12 ± 0.12 | 0.07 ± 0.06 | nd | 0.736 |
| CysC, mg/L | 1.90 ± 1.43 | 2.09 ± 0.84 | 1.76 ± 0.31 | nd | 0.065 |
| dsDNA, Iu/mL∗ | 107.96 (57.14–150.41) | 130.5 (22.93–600.8) | 136.4 (87.34–447.7) | nd | 0.781 |
| NGAL, ng/mL∗ | 89.58 (15.37–251.22) | 88.07 (27.01–190.55) | 59.9 (28.84–106.68) | 5.43 (3.83–10.17) | <0.0001 (∗0.91, &0.64, #0.81) |
Ages and sex differences determined by Fischer test, then SLEDAI, C3, C4, 24-hour urine protein, and cystatin-C are expressed in mean ± SD. Kruskal-Wallis test was applied for groups analysis. SLEDAI: systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index; significant differences were found in LN-IV (p = 0.003) when compared with LN-III and LN-V. NGAL (neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin) was significantly elevated in all classes of LN when compared with healthy control (p < 0.0001) (nd = not determined; ns = not significant). ∗LN-III compared with LN-IV, &LN-IV compared with LN-V, and #LN-III compared with LN-V. p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.