title: Up-regulation of urinary UPIII mRNA levels in vesicoureteral reflux patients: potential application as a screening test for vesicoureteral reflux.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) is the most common congenital urinary tract anomaly. This disease can pose a major threat to the kidneys as twenty percent of patients with endstage renal disease are reported to have VUR. Although genetic studies for uroplakin III (UPIII) have been reported recently, no study has focused on UPIII gene expression in VUR patients. We describe here the up-regulation of UPIII mRNA in exfoliated urinary cells from primary VUR patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A real-time RT-PCR for UPIII mRNA was performed on exfoliated urothelial cells from 18 primary VUR and 38 control samples. UPIII mRNA copies were calculated for each sample. The statistical differences were assessed by the Mann-Whitney U test. Receiver operator characteristic curves were constructed for analysis of the diagnostic values.
  
  
  RESULTS
  UPIII mRNA was found to be up-regulated to a greater extent in VUR than in control exfoliated urinary cells (mean +/- SE: 497.0 +/- 178.5 copies vs. 69.0 +/- 10.0 copies, respectively, P < 0.001). In evaluating the measurement of urinary UPIII mRNA as a screening test for VUR, the sensitivity was 77.8% and the specificity was 76.3% by the best diagnostic cutoff point.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first report demonstrating up-regulation of UPIII in mRNA levels in VUR patients. We submit that the quantitative measurement of urinary UPIII mRNA has a potential of developing into the first non-invasive screening test for VUR.
authors: Department of Urology, Shiga University of Medical Science, Shiga, Japan.
authors: Hideaki
authors: H
authors: Iwaki
authors: Kazuyoshi
authors: K
authors: Johnin
authors: Susumu
authors: S
authors: Kageyama
authors: Chul Jang
authors: CJ
authors: Kim
authors: Takahiro
authors: T
authors: Isono
authors: Tatsuhiro
authors: T
authors: Yoshiki
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000652:urine*; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000235:genetics*; D060171:Uroplakin III; D019459:Urothelium / Q000473:pathology; D014718:Vesico-Ureteral Reflux / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C554660:UPK3A protein, human; D060171:Uroplakin III