CD163: a potential biomarker for lupus nephritis activity.
Urine CD163 tells apart active lupus nephritis from inactive disease with high accuracy
CD163: a potential biomarker for lupus nephritis activity.
CD163 is a macrophage-associated scavenger receptor shed during inflammatory activation, resulting in measurable soluble CD163 in serum (s) and urine (u).
This study aimed to investigate the relationship between soluble CD163 levels and intrarenal CD163 expression, evaluating their association with disease activity and treatment response in lupus nephritis.
Forty-five patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (systemic lupus erythematosus) were included (20 active lupus nephritis, 10 inactive lupus nephritis, 15 active extra-renal systemic lupus erythematosus), together with 20 matched healthy controls.
AUROC scale to 1.0, near-perfect separation of active from inactive disease
Glomerular CD163+ macrophage density also correlated with sCD163 (ρ=0.60, p=0.01) and uCD163 (ρ=0.63, p=0.009).
After 6-month induction, uCD163 fell from 7.41 to 1.55 ng/mg (p<0.001).
uCD163 distinguishes active lupus nephritis from inactive renal and extra-renal disease and tracks treatment response.
The association with intrarenal CD163+ macrophages supports its biological relevance as a non-invasive marker of renal inflammation, complementary to histopathology when repeat biopsy is not feasible.
These findings support uCD163 as a candidate non-invasive tool for identifying active lupus nephritis and monitoring treatment response in systemic lupus erythematosus, warranting validation in larger prospective cohorts.