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Urinary IL-18 predicts progression of IgA nephropathy
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: There is currently a lack of noninvasive biomarkers that effectively predict the progression of IgA nephropathy. We investigated the value of urinary IL-18 in predicting the progression of IgA nephropathy and whether its combination with clinical variables improved risk prediction. METHODS: A total of 136 patients with IgA nephropathy were followed up for a median of 36 months in four academic medical centers. The levels of three biomarkers, urinary IL-18, urinary KIM-1 and urinary NGAL, were measured via ELISA in patients with 136 IgA nephropathy. The progression of IgA nephropathy was defined as a > 50% decrease in the eGFR or end-stage kidney disease. Multivariate Cox regression analyses of urine biomarkers for predicting the progression of IgA nephropathy were performed, and the AUCs of the clinical prediction models were calculated. RESULTS: Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that high levels (> 28.1 pg/mg of creatinine) of urinary IL-18 were associated with a significantly poor renal outcome (P < 0.01), and Cox analysis further confirmed this result. High levels of urinary IL-18 were associated with a 4.7-fold greater risk for IgA nephropathy progression in adjusted analyses. For predicting IgA nephropathy progression, urinary IL-18 yielded a C-statistic of 0.77 (95% CI, 0.67-0.86), renal injury molecule 1 yielded 0.75 (95% CI, 0.65-0.86), and uNGAL yielded 0.70 (95% CI, 0.59-0.80). Urinary IL-18 levels significantly improved the C statistic from 0.77 to 0.89, outperforming the clinical and MEST-C scores. CONCLUSION: Urinary IL-18 is a significant predictor of poor renal outcomes and improves the risk prediction of IgA nephropathy.
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Metadata
- Authors
- Tang, Y., Tao, X., Huang, C., Teng, S., Lin, X., Tian, J., Liao, Y., Mei, J., & Ou, J.
- Affiliations
- Guilin Medical University (CN)
- Nanfang Hospital (CN)
- Dalian Medical University (CN)
- Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Ou, Jun
- Venue
- BMC Nephrology
- Published
- 2026-04-06
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 1
- ISSN
- 1471-2369 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W7150957236
- Cited by
- 2
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2
- FWCI
- 8.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- BMC Nephrology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Science and Technology Projects in Guangzhou (2023A04J2312)
- Guilin Science and Technology Project (20220139-7-2)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Nephrology › Renal Diseases and Glomerulopathies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Nephrology › Chronic Kidney Disease and Diabetes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Nephrology › Acute Kidney Injury Research
- Keywords
- IgA nephropathy, disease progression, non-invasive biomarkers, risk prediction, KIM-1, urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, end-stage renal disease, estimated glomerular filtration rate decline, MEST-C score
- MeSH terms
- Lipocalin-2, Hepatitis A Virus Cellular Receptor 1, Adult, Female, Glomerulonephritis, IGA, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Predictive Value of Tests, Biomarkers, Disease Progression, Interleukin-18
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