Detection of Renal Hypoxia in Lupus Nephritis Using Blood Oxygen Level-Dependent MR Imaging: A Multiple...

Nephrologists have pursued ideal, dynamic and noninvasive methods for assessing renal function and disease progression. Blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) imaging is a useful technique for assessing renal disease. This current study was performed to explore the correlation between the hypoxia iconographical index and renal pathological features in lupus nephritis.

Adult patients with lupus nephritis (LN) and healthy volunteers were recruited for this study. Renal biopsy tissues were characterized based on the LNISN/RPS 2003 classification. R2* values of functional magnetic resonance parameters were acquired using the BOLD technique. The data characteristics of R2* values of different pathological patterns were calculated. Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) was performed to explore the correlation between R2* values and clinical or pathological features.

A total of twenty-three patients and eighteen healthy volunteers were examined with BOLD MRI. Renal pathological patterns included five class III (including 3 class III+V), eight class IV (including 4 class IV+V) and five class IV. The mean renal R2* values in LN patients were higher than those in healthy volunteers. R2* values in class V patients were higher than those in class IV and class III. The MCA showed that higher R2* values were associated with pathological features in class V patients.

The extent of renal hypoxia in patients with LN was more serious compared with the healthy volunteers. Differentiated mechanisms of renal oxygenation are possibly involved in proliferative and non-proliferative LN patients. R2* values may be linked with multiple clinical and pathological indexes.