PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - XIAOYAN CAI
AU  - XIUYAN YANG
AU  - FAN LIAN
AU  - XIAOJUN LIN
AU  - MING LIANG
AU  - JIANWEN LI
AU  - XIAOHUI CHEN
AU  - LIUQING LIANG
AU  - SHUGUANG QIN
AU  - JUNZHOU FU
TI  - Correlation Between Serum Anti-C1q Antibody Levels and Renal Pathological Characteristics and Prognostic Significance of Anti-C1q Antibody in Lupus Nephritis
AID  - 10.3899/jrheum.090779
DP  - 2010 Apr 01
TA  - The Journal of Rheumatology
PG  - 759--765
VI  - 37
IP  - 4
4099  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/37/4/759.short
4100  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/37/4/759.full
SO  - J Rheumatol2010 Apr 01; 37
AB  - Objective. To investigate the relationship between serum anti-C1q antibody levels and renal pathological characteristics in lupus nephritis as well as the prognostic significance of serum anti-C1q antibody. Methods. Seventy-three patients with biopsy-proven lupus nephritis were enrolled. Anti-C1q antibody was measured in serum samples taken within 7 days before renal biopsy and remeasured at the end of the first and the third month after treatment. All patients were followed at least once a month for 3 months. A cross-sectional study analyzed the relationship between serum anti-C1q antibody levels and renal histopathology and nephritic activity, while a longitudinal study evaluated the prognostic significance of anti-C1q antibody levels in lupus nephritis. Results. Fifty-eight of 73 patients (79.5%) were reported as having positive baseline serum anti-C1q antibody, with a mean level of 95.3 (± 55.2) U/ml. Significant differences were found in serum anti-C1q antibody levels between each World Health Organization (WHO) classification of lupus nephritis. The serum anti-C1q antibody level of WHO class IV was the highest. Serum anti-C1q antibody was positively correlated with the active and chronic indices in renal pathology. Patients with persistent high levels or increased titers of serum anti-C1q antibody tended to develop delayed remission in nephropathy. Serum anti-C1q antibody levels before and after treatment were relevant to renal remission, but serum anti-C1q antibody at the end of the third month after treatment was a stronger predictor for the prognosis after adjustment in the Cox’s proportional hazards regression model. Conclusion. Serum anti-C1q antibody is a valuable noninvasive biological marker for evaluation of renal involvement and lupus prognosis.