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Published on: November 1, 2018
Urinary OPN excretion in children with glomerular proteinuria
A Wasilewska1, K Taranta-Janusz, E Kuroczycka-Saniutycz
1Department of Paediatrics and Nephrology, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland. annwasil@interia.pl
Advances in Medical Sciences
|October 11, 2011
Summary
Urinary osteopontin (uOPN) is elevated in children with glomerular diseases like minimal change disease and IgA nephropathy. Highest uOPN levels were observed in focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), correlating with disease severity.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nephrology
- Biomarker Discovery
- Glomerular Diseases
Background:
- Osteopontin (OPN) is a protein implicated in various kidney diseases.
- Urinary OPN (uOPN) levels may serve as a non-invasive marker for glomerular injury.
- Understanding uOPN in pediatric glomerular diseases is crucial for diagnosis and management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate urinary osteopontin (uOPN) levels in children with different glomerular diseases.
- To assess the clinical significance of uOPN in relation to histological diagnosis and proteinuria.
- To compare uOPN levels across minimal change disease (MCD), focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), and IgA nephropathy (IgAN).
Main Methods:
- Studied three groups of children: MCD (n=20), FSGS (n=17), and IgAN (n=12), plus 20 healthy controls.
- Measured urinary OPN (uOPN) using ELISA and expressed it relative to creatinine (uOPN/cr).
- Examined MCD patients during relapse and remission to assess changes with proteinuria.
Main Results:
- Significantly higher uOPN/cr levels were found in children with MCD (relapse and remission), FSGS, and IgAN compared to controls.
- Children with FSGS exhibited the highest uOPN/cr levels among all disease groups.
- uOPN/cr levels positively correlated with the protein/creatinine ratio in all studied groups.
Conclusions:
- Elevated uOPN/cr is a consistent finding in pediatric glomerular diseases.
- FSGS is associated with the highest uOPN/cr levels, suggesting its potential as a marker for disease severity.
- uOPN levels correlate with histological findings like interstitial changes and mesangial expansion in FSGS.
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