title: Urinary complement factor H in renal disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Complement factor H (hCFH) plays a key inhibitory role in the control of the alternative complement pathway. We examined whether urinary hCFH (U-hCFH) levels is useful as an indirect indicator of renal damage.
  
  
  METHODS
  Urine samples were obtained from 104 patients with renal disease. Urine was collected with 10 mM EDTA and U-hCFH levels were measured using the BTA TRAK Assay Kit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the 62 patients with nephritis, the levels of U-hCFH were elevated (range 15-52,198 U/ml) over the normal range (0-14 U/ml). U-hCFH levels of patients with chronic renal failure, lupus nephritis, membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, focal glomerulosclerosis were higher than that of IgA nephropathy patients (p < 0.05). In the patients with minimal change disease, showed high levels of U-hCFH during the nephrotic syndrome. U-hCFH was correlated significantly with urinary protein and urinary N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We demonstrated that U-hCFH was detected in the urine of nephritis patients.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Internal Medicine II, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Mariko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tamano
authors.forename: Yoshinobu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fuke
authors.forename: Morito
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.forename: Isao
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ohsawa
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohi
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers; D003167:Complement Activation; D017242:Complement Factor H / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D015432:Glomerulonephritis, Membranoproliferative / Q000652:urine*; D006801:Humans; D008181:Lupus Nephritis / Q000652:urine; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009395:Nephritis, Interstitial / Q000652:urine; D009402:Nephrosis, Lipoid / Q000652:urine
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C493495:CFH protein, human; D017242:Complement Factor H