Value of sTNF-R1 and linc0597 as indicators for disease activity and diagnosis of lupus nephritis

OBJECTIVE To explore whether Soluble tumor necrosis factor-receptor 1 (sTNF-R1) and linc0597 can be used as indicators for disease activity and diagnosis of lupus nephritis (LN). PATIENTS AND METHODS Eighty LN patients treated in our hospital were enrolled as the LN group, while 60 Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) patients without nephritis were included in the SLE group, and 50 healthy subjects who conducted physical examination during the same period as the control group. After admission, 5 mL of venous blood was taken from all the study subjects to measure sTNF-R1 level and linc0597 expression by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and RT-qPCR respectively. In addition, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were employed to evaluate the diagnostic value of serum sTNF-R1 and linc0597 for LN, and Spearman correlation coefficient was adopted for the correlation between sTNF-R1, linc0597, and LN clinical disease Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI). Moreover, the logistic multiple regression analysis was applied to analyze the independent risk factors affecting the complication of LN in SLE patients. RESULTS The LN group presented significantly higher serum sTNF-R1 and linc0597 levels than the control group and the SLE group. Besides, ROC curve analysis revealed that sTNF-R1 and linc0597 had good clinical diagnostic value in LN and SLE. Furthermore, Spearman correlation coefficient indicated that serum sTNF-R1 and linc0597 were positively correlated with disease activity index SLEDAI (r=0.551, p<0.001; R =0.604, p<0.001). Moreover, multivariate Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that age (p=0.001), fever (p=0.004), arthralgia (p=0.034), serum uric acid (p=0.019), decreased complement C3 (p=0.023), ANA peripheral type (p=0.007), anti-ds-DNA antibody (p=0.003), ANCA (p=0.002), sTNF-R1 (p=0.001), and linc0597 (p<0.001) were all independent risk factors affecting the complication of LN in SLE patients. CONCLUSIONS STNF-R1 and linc0597 can be used as the indicators for disease activity and diagnosis of LN.