INTRODUCTION Metallothionein (MT) isoforms I + II are polypeptides with potent antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties. In healthy kidneys, MT-I+II have been described as intracellular proteins of proximal tubular cells. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the renal MT-I+II expression profile is altered during lupus nephritis. METHODS Immunohistochemistry was perfor...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate serum anti-C1q antibodies as a biomarker of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) flare and as a proposed noninvasive alternative to renal biopsy which is still the "gold standard" to determine renal activity in SLE. METHODS Serum anti-C1q antibodies were measured in our patients (all were females), they were followed at the nephrology and pediatric nephrology units at the ...

OBJECTIVE Previous studies have documented a high frequency of thrombotic events in lupus nephritis patients with antiphospholipid (aPL) antibodies in the serum, but there is little information on the impact of serum aPL antibodies on the clinical outcome of lupus nephritis. The aims of this study were to evaluate the seroprevalence of aPL antibodies in patients with lupus nephritis and assess ...

Lupus Nephritis is a severe, organ-threatening manifestation of Systemic Erythematosus (SLE). The current standard care in the treatment lupus nephritis limited to broad-spectrum immunosuppressants, which have significant concerns short- and long-term toxicity. With traditional approaches, kidney survival patient outcomes remained suboptimal. Robust research therapeutics has resulted developmen...

BACKGROUND Lupus nephritis is considered to be a principal cause of morbidity and mortality in SLE. Few studies focus on the association between anti-C1q antibodies in circulation and renal C1q deposition in human lupus nephritis. In this study, we detected the serum levels of C1q, presence of anti-C1q antibodies in circulation, renal C1q deposition and further analyzed their associations with ...

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) often develop glomerulonephritis (i.e., inflammation in the glomeruli of the kidney), commonly referred to as lupus nephritis. Patients with lupus nephritis typically have autoantibodies to the complement classical pathway protein C1q. Whether these anti-C1q antibodies play any role in the development of lupus nephritis has been unclear. In this ...

Mizoribine (MZB) is an imidazole nucleoside and an immunosuppressive agent. The immunosuppressive effect of MZB has been reported to be due to the inhibition of DNA synthesis in the S phase of the cell cycle. Because of its relative lack of toxicity, during the past decade MZB has been frequently used instead of azathioprine as a component of immunosuppressive drug regimens. MZB is being used t...

This study investigated the illness perceptions of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and whether perceptions are influenced by type of treatment for proliferative lupus nephritis. In addition, the illness perceptions of SLE patients were compared with those of patients with other chronic illnesses. Thirty-two patients who had experienced at least one episode of proliferative lupu...

MicroRNAs (miRNA) have emerged as an important new class of modulators of gene expression. In this study we investigated miRNA that are differentially expressed in lupus nephritis. Microarray technology was used to investigate differentially expressed miRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV)-transformed cell lines obtained from lupus nephritis affected pa...

Dear Editor, Patients with acute renal failure due to pauci-immune necrotizing and crescentic glomerulonephritis with antinuclear antibody (ANCA) seropositivity can present with positive lupus serologies.1 On the other hand, patients with lupus nephritis present with ANCA seroconversion in 20% of cases. The fact that systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and positive myeloperoxidase (MPO) ANCA tit...