Utility of Urinary Ferritin as a Marker for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Abstract
Background:Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease with a wide spectrum of clinical and serological manifestations caused by autoantibody production, complement activation, and immune complex deposition. Urinary biomarkers are easily obtained and probably are best at reflecting the current renal status, as they specifically represent local inflammatory activity.The aim of this study was to evaluate the value of urinary ferritin/creatinine ratio (UFCR) in diagnosis of Systemic lupus erythematosus.
Methods:This study was conducted in the internal medicine department of Zagazig university hospitals on 36 patients complaining of SLE diagnosed according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 1997 revised criteria for the classification of SLE, and they were compared with 18 healthy control participants (16 of them were females and two were males) with mean age 32.28±6.03.
Results:Urinary ferritin creatinine ratio (UFCR)was significantly higher in the SLE group than the control group. There was a statistical significance +ve correlation between UFCR and SLEDAI score, serum ferritin and serum creatinine among SLE group.
Conclusion:UFCR level can be considered as a potential biomarker for SLE.