New biomarkers in lupus nephritis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Inflammatory mechanisms and potential new biomarkers in lupus nephritis
IRAS ID
160839
Contact name
Ian Bruce
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
8 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic illness which affects the immune system. SLE can affect any part of the body. It causes inflammation and can lead to organ damage or dysfunction. Kidney involvement is common in SLE (lupus nephritis): up to 60% of all patients will develop lupus nephritis as an initial manifestation of SLE or at some point during the course of the disease. Early treatment has been shown to improve the long term outcomes of lupus nephritis. Renal biopsy represents a fundamental tool for confirming the diagnosis of lupus nephritis and establishing the likely future outcomes. It also plays a key role in identifying active disease and selecting the most appropriate therapy. Today, biopsy is also the only way to distinguish active disease from disease-induced damage, for this reason reliable markers which don’t need a biopsy but can provide similar information about active disease and treatment success are urgently needed.
We would like to investigate the possible role of proteins that drive inflammation (chemokines, cytokines and other inflammatory mediators) in SLE and in particular, in lupus nephritis.
The main aim of the study will be to establish a prospective study of SLE patients with lupus nephritis to follow-up in order to evaluate the clinical usefulness of serum and urine inflammatory chemokines and cytokines as markers of inflammation in SLE kidney disease. In addition, we will evaluate the presence of these inflammatory proteins in kidney tissue from patients with lupus nephritis and detect which cells generate these.REC name
East of England - Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/EE/1299
Date of REC Opinion
4 Feb 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion