Successful Urine Multiplex Bead Assay to Measure Lupus Nephritis Activity

Lupus nephritis (LN) confers a poor prognosis, mainly from lack of effective laboratory tests to diagnose and to evaluate therapies. We have previously shown that a set of 6 urinary biomarkers (NGAL, KIM-1, MCP-1, adiponectin, hemopexin, and ceruloplasmin) are highly sensitive and specific to identify adult and pediatric patients with active LN using renal biopsy as reference standard. Using these combinatorial urinary biomarkers, the Renal Activity Score for Lupus (RAIL) score was established, with biomarkers measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). To enhance clinical utility of the biomarkers and RAIL, we tested the performance of RAIL with biomarkers measured by ELISA to that of biomarkers measured by the bead multiplex method, hypothesizing that the multiplex bead method would be comparable.

Spot urine samples (n = 341) of 46 patients aged 20 to 73 years with or without LN were used. Samples were assayed both by ELISA and multiplex using LUMINEX. RAIL scores and biomarker quantities were assessed for agreement with intraassay correlation coefficients and compared using Bland-Altman and regression.

Biomarker measurement by LUMINEX was successful for NGAL, KIM-1, MCP-1, and adiponectin, but not for ceruloplasmin and hemopexin. There was good agreement of the RAIL obtained from these 4 biomarkers, irrespective of assay method (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.78, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.78-0.82). The RAIL scores from 4 biomarkers further correlated with those when considering all 6 biomarkers (ICC = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.96-0.98).

The LUMINEX platform allows for the convenient and simultaneous measurement of 4 RAIL biomarkers. RAIL scores considering only these 4 biomarkers may be sufficient to accurately capture LN activity.