Table 2. Previous studies on B7-1 expression in minimal-change disease.
| Authors | n* | B7-1 Measurement | B7-1 Expression | Limitations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Using kidney tissue | ||||
| Garin14 | 8 | IF | Glomeruli (87.5%); tubules (0%) | 1. No adult patients |
| 2. No confirmation with IP | ||||
| 3. No grading for B7-1 expression intensity | ||||
| Yu18 | 5 | IF | Glomeruli (60.0%); tubules (not evaluated) | 1. No confirmation with IP |
| 2. No grading for B7-1 expression intensity | ||||
| Larsen20 | 19 | IF and IP | Glomeruli (0%); tubules (not evaluated) | 1. No grading for B7-1 expression intensity |
| Novelli27 | 15 | IF and IP | Glomeruli (0%); tubules (presented) | 1. No grading for tubular B7-1 expression intensity |
| Using urine | ||||
| Garin13 | 19 | ELISA | Higher urinary B7-1 level in MCD relapse than in MCD remission or other glomerular diseases | 1. No adult patients |
| 2. No data regarding source of B7-1 | ||||
| Garin14 | 17 | ELISA | Higher urinary B7-1 level in MCD relapse than in MCD remission or FSGS | 1. No adult patients |
| 2. Indirect data regarding source of B7-1 | ||||
| Cara-Fuentes25 | 32 | ELISA | Higher urinary B7-1 level in MCD relapse than in MCD remission or healthy controls | 1. No adult patients |
| 2. No data regarding source of B7-1 | ||||
| Cara-Fuentes26 | 26 | ELISA | Higher urinary B7-1 level in MCD relapse than in MCD remission, FSGS, or controls | 1. No adult patients |
| 2. No data regarding source of B7-1 | ||||
| Ling31 | 37 | ELISA | Higher urinary B7-1 level in MCD than in FSGS, other glomerular diseases, or controls | 1. No adult patients |
| 2. No data regarding source of B7-1 | ||||
MCD, minimal change disease; FSGS, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis; IF, immunofluorescence; IP, immunoperoxidase; ELISA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
In all the above-mentioned studies, IF was performed by using polyclonal goat anti-human B7-1 (R&D systems, Minneapolis, MN, USA) and IP was analysed by using monoclonal mouse anti-human B7-1 (R&D systems, Minneapolis, MN, USA). For the measurement of urinary B7-1 level, researchers in all the above-mentioned studies used a commercial ELISA kit (Bender MedSystems, Burlingame, CA, USA). As none of the previous studies graded the intensity of B7-1 expression, quantitatively or semi-quantitatively, no data were available on the association of the intensity of B7-1 expression with clinical outcomes. *Only numbers of specimens from MCD patients were counted.