Abstract :Background: Lupus Nephritis (LN) is one of the most common and serious manifestations in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) patients that causes significant morbidity and mortality. Certain biomarkers for LN are sometimes able to assess the treatment response of lupus nephritis.
Objective: To compare serum complement levels (C3 & C4) as markers of treatment response of LN and their relation to the LN class in renal biopsy.
Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted in the Department of Nephrology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka, Bangladesh from July 2018 to August 2019. Twenty seven patients who were diagnosed with lupus nephritis after kidney biopsy were included in this study. Serum complement levels (C3 & C4), 24 hours urinary total protein (24-hr UTP) and anti-double-stranded DNA (anti-ds DNA) were measured in all patients at baseline, 3 months and 6 months after treatment. These biomarker values before and after treatment were compared between the treatment response and non-response groups.
Results: Serum C3 levels were significantly different in patients of proliferative lupus nephritis (Class III & Class IV) than non proliferative lupus nephritis (Class V) at baseline (0.47 ± 0.32 vs0.89 ± 0.43g/l, p = 0.009) and levels changed significantly 6 months after treatment (p <0.001) and likewise for Serum C4 levels (0.10 ± 0.06 vs0.24 ± 0.26g/l, p = 0.040). Serum C3 levels were also found to correlate significantly with SLEDAI and renal SLEDAI. No significant difference was observed for 24-hr UTP levels at baseline between remission and non-remission groups.