Association between urinary VEGFA and renal pathology of IgA nephropathy patients

Renal biopsy remains the golden standard for diagnosing and monitoring IgA nephropathy (IgAN). Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) was crucial for the survival of glomerular cells. Our aim was to screen the expression pattern of urinary, circulating and renal VEGFA in IgAN patients to reveal their relationship with renal pathology and outcomes.

Baseline VEGFA levels were determined with ELISA, real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry. Associations between VEGFA expression and clinical-pathological parameters, and renal outcomes were evaluated.

Compared with healthy controls, urinary VEGFA level was obviously elevated in IgAN patients (76.19 ± 63.67 pg/mg Cr vs 146.67 ± 232.71 pg/mg Cr, p = 0.0291) and not correlated with serum VEGFA level. Baseline urinary VEGFA was significantly associated with gender and tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis by stepwise multivariate regression analysis. Urinary VEGFA was higher in male patients accompanied with higher serum creatinine, larger proportion of hypertension and recurrent hematuria than in female patients. In the kidney of IgAN patients, VEGFA were robustly expressed in the parietal epithelial cells, podocytes, mesangial cells and tubular epithelial cells. After a follow-up duration of 38.53 ± 27.14 months, IgAN patients with higher urinary VEGFA level were found to have a poorer renal outcome of renal replacement therapy (HR = 1.027, p = 0.037) or composite outcome (HR = 1.023, p = 0.039) after adjusting for confounders.

Increased urinary VEGFA might reflect certain renal pathology and, although not fully specific, still could be served as a valuable noninvasive indicator in predicting renal progression of IgAN.