Diagnostic Value of Urinary miR-152-5p in Patients with IgA Nephropathy with Elevated Proteinuria Levels

BACKGROUND: The current study aims to observe the correlation between the expression of miR-152-5p in urine samples and the condition of IgA nephropathy (IgAN). METHODS: From January 2017 to October 2017, 40 patients with IgAN, 10 patients with mild glomerular lesions, 10 patients with membranous proliferative glomerulonephritis type I, 10 patients with focal segmental glomeruloscle-rosis, 10 patients with Henoch-Schonlein purpura nephritis, and 10 patients with lupus nephritis. Meanwhile, 25 healthy controls were also included in the physical examination center of our hospital. The expression level of miR-152-5p was detected by RT-qPCR. The correlation between the expression level of miR-152-5p and patholog-ical Haas grading and urinary protein was analyzed. RESULTS: The expression level of miR-152-5p in IgA nephropathy patients was higher than that in other types of glomerulonephritis and healthy control group (p < 0.0001). Meanwhile, the level of miR-152-5p in IgAN patients with high score (p < 0.01) was significantly increased. Furthermore, the level of miR-152-5p was positively corre-lated with the level of urinary protein and the degree of renal pathological damage (r2 = 0.89, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The expression of urinary miR-152-5p is positively correlated with IgA nephropathy, which provides a new way for early diagnosis and treatment of IgA nephropathy with elevated proteinuria.