These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Serum IgA/C3 ratio may be a useful marker of disease activity in severe Henoch-Schönlein nephritis.
    Author: Shin JI, Park JM, Shin YH, Lee JS, Jeong HJ, Kim HS.
    Journal: Nephron Clin Pract; 2005; 101(2):c72-8. PubMed ID: 15942254.
    Abstract:
    BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study was designed to investigate whether the serum IgA/C3 ratio can be a serologic marker of disease activity in children with severe Henoch-Schönlein nephritis (HSN). METHODS: Twelve HSN patients who were treated with steroids and cyclosporine were examined. The levels of serum IgA and C3 were measured using an international reference preparation (IFCC/CRM470) and a renal biopsy was performed in all patients before and after therapy. After therapy, patients were divided into 3 groups: complete remission (n = 6, group I), mild urinary abnormalities (n = 3, group II), and active renal disease (n = 3, group III). RESULTS: The serum IgA/C3 ratio decreased significantly in groups I and II after therapy (2.62 +/- 0.82 vs. 2.02 +/- 0.52, p = 0.02), whereas the ratio in group III increased, although it was not statistically significant (2.13 +/- 0.93 vs. 4.67 +/- 1.71, p = 0.25). A follow-up renal biopsy revealed that the activity index was reduced in groups I and II (7.0 +/- 2.4 vs. 3.6 +/- 1.6, p = 0.016), and not changed in group III (7.3 +/- 2.1 vs. 9.3 +/- 2.5, p = 0.25). The activity index at a follow-up renal biopsy correlated positively with the changes of the serum IgA/C3 ratio: posttherapy activity index = 1.20 x DeltaIgA/C3 + 4.78 (r = 0.635, p = 0.027); where DeltaIgA/C3 is posttherapy IgA/C3--pretherapy IgA/C3. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the serum IgA/C3 ratio may be a useful marker to predict disease activity and histologic severity in HSN.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]