title: A multicenter cross-sectional study of circulating soluble urokinase receptor in Japanese patients with glomerular disease.
abstract: Elevated serum-soluble urokinase receptor (suPAR) levels have been described in patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) in several different cohorts. However, it remains unclear whether this is the case for Japanese patients and whether circulating suPAR can be clinically useful as a diagnostic marker. To determine this, we measured serum suPAR levels in 69 Japanese patients with biopsy-proven glomerular diseases in a cross-sectional manner. The serum suPAR levels showed a significant inverse correlation with renal function by univariate (R(2) of 0.242) and multivariate (β=0.226) analyses. Even after excluding patients with renal dysfunction, no significant difference in the suPAR levels was detected among the groups. Receiver operating characteristic analysis and measures of the diagnostic test performance showed that suPAR was not a useful parameter for differentiating FSGS from the other glomerular diseases (AUC-ROC: 0.621), although a small subgroup analysis showed that patients with FSGS, treated with steroids and/or immunosuppressants, had significantly lower suPAR levels. Patients with ANCA-associated glomerulonephritis had significantly higher levels of suPAR compared with the other disease groups, which may be owing to their lower renal function and systemic inflammation. Thus, suPAR levels are significantly affected by renal function and have little diagnostic value even in patients with normal renal function.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology and Endocrinology, University of Tokyo School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Takehiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology and Endocrinology, University of Tokyo School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaomi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nangaku
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan.
authors.forename: Shoichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.affiliation: Nakayamadera Imai Clinic, Takarazuka, Japan.
authors.forename: Enyu
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Imai
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology and Endocrinology, University of Tokyo School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shoji
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan.
authors.forename: Sawako
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology and Dialysis, Kitano Hospital, The Tazuke Kofukai Medical Research Institute, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology and Dialysis, Kitano Hospital, The Tazuke Kofukai Medical Research Institute, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Eri
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Muso
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology in Internal Medicine, Kitasato University School of Medicine, Sagamihara, Japan.
authors.forename: Kouju
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kamata
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Kanazawa Medical University School of Medicine, Uchinada, Japan.
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Kanazawa Medical University School of Medicine, Uchinada, Japan.
authors.forename: Keiji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Obata
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishino
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Shunya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Uchida
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology and Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Fukuoka University School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sasatomi
authors.affiliation: General Medical Research Center, Fukuoka University School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan.
authors.forename: Seiichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsuo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005919:Glomerular Filtration Rate; D005921:Glomerulonephritis / Q000097:blood*; D005923:Glomerulosclerosis, Focal Segmental / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009402:Nephrosis, Lipoid / Q000097:blood; D055293:Receptors, Urokinase Plasminogen Activator / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D055293:Receptors, Urokinase Plasminogen Activator; D002097:C-Reactive Protein