Table 1.
Characteristics of the included studies.
| Author, year | Country | Study design | Participants, female (%) | Baseline Scr (mg/dl) | Definition of active LN | Key findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noa Schwartz, et al. 2009 | USA | Multicenter cohort study. Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. |
SLE + LN: n = 30. F: 93%. SLE-LN: n = 49. F: 88%. |
SLE + LN: 0.85 (0.60–1.20)b. SLE–LN: 0.70 (0.60–0.80)b. |
rSLEDAI score > 0. | High uTWEAK indicated the presence of LN and reflected renal disease activity in the follow-up. TWEAK signaling pathway might be involved in the pathogenesis of LN. |
| Jiazhen Tan, et al. 2009 | China | Cross-sectional study. | SLE + LN: n = 34. F: 97.1%. SLE-LN: n = 12. F: 75%. |
SLE + LN: 1.28 ± 0.11. SLE–LN: 1.04 ± 0.22. |
rSLEDAI score > 4. | The level of uTWEAK reflected renal disease activity and could be a novel biomarker of LN. |
| S. Marzouk, et al. 2011 | Egypt | Cross-sectional study. | SLE + LN: n = 50. SLE-LN: n = 23. F (total): 96%. |
SLE + LN: 0.80 ± 0.30. SLE–LN: 0.56 ± 0.20. |
rSLEDAI score > 4. | uTWEAK along with other urinary biomarkers (OPG, MCP-1, and IL-8) correlated with renal involvement in patients with SLE. |
| Jung-Yoon Choe, et al. 2016 | Republic of Korea | Cross-sectional study. | SLE + LN: n = 32. F: 100%. SLE-LN: n = 38. F: 100%. |
Not reported separately. SLE + LN and SLE–LN: 0.8 ± 0.8. |
rSLEDAI score > 0. | sTWEAK might be a biomarker candidate that reflected renal involvement in patients with SLE. |
| Fabiola Reyes Martínez, et al. 2017 | Mexico | Cross-sectional study. | SLE + LN: n = 11. F: 81.8%. SLE-LN: n = 11. F: 90.9%. |
SLE + LN: 1.60 ± 1.53. SLE–LN: 0.72 ± 0.16. |
Renal activity was proven by kidney biopsy. | uTWEAK could distinguish renal activity with higher sensitivity and specificity compared with the commonly used biomarkers. |
| XW Dong, et al. 2018 | China | Cross-sectional study. | SLE + LN: n = 48. F: 85.4%. SLE-LN: n = 22. F: 90.9%. |
SLE + LN: 1.04 ± 0.48. SLE–LN: 0.86 ± 0.22. |
rSLEDAI score > 0. | uTWEAK combined with uMCP-1 could discriminate severe LN patients and predict LN renal prognosis. |
| XW Dong, et al. 2018a | China | Cross-sectional study. | SLE + LN: n = 39. F: 89.7%. SLE-LN: n = 20. F: 90%. |
NR. | 24-hour urine proteinuria > 300 mg/day, further confirmed by kidney biopsy. | uTWEAK was elevated in patients with active LN and correlated with 24-hour urine proteinuria. |
| M. N. Salem, et al. 2018 | Egypt | Cross-sectional study. | SLE + LN: n = 14. F: 96.7%. SLE-LN: n = 30. F: 78.6%. |
SLE + LN: 2.10 ± 1.90. SLE–LN: 0.84 ± 0.68. |
rSLEDAI score > 4. | uTWEAK was a sensitive biomarker for early detection of active LN. |
| S Mirioglu, et al. 2020 | Turkey | Cross-sectional study. | SLE + LN: n = 15. F: 73.3%. SLE-LN: n = 15. F: 93.3%. |
SLE + LN: 0.7 (0.6–1.63)b. SLE–LN: NR. |
rSLEDAI score > 0. | sTWEAK was helpful in distinguishing patients with active LN. uTWEAK was not able to discriminate active LN. |
aThis study compared the level of uTWEAK with urine albumin/creatinine ratio in proteinuria detection in patients with LN. Since proteinuria is a component of rSLEDAI scoring system, the study was also included.
bData were presented as the median (interquartile range). Scr: serum creatinine; SLE: systemic lupus erythematosus; LN: lupus nephritis; SLE + LN: SLE patients with active LN; SLE-LN: SLE patients without active LN; rSLEDAI: renal systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index; uTWEAK: urinary TNF-like weak inducer of apoptosis; sTWEAK: serum TNF-like weak inducer of apoptosis; OPG: osteoprotegerin; MCP-1: monocyte chemoattractant protein-1; IL-8: interleukin-8; NR: not reported.