Study of collagen type III and VI remodeling as a potential biomarker for disease activity in systemic lupus patients with lupus nephritis

Objectives. This study aimed to evaluate collagen type III and VI remodeling biomarkers as a possible indicator of disease activity in patients with lupus nephritis (LN). Materials and methods. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 48 patients allocated into two groups: Group 1 (n = 38): systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients classified into two subgroups: [Group 1A (n = 25): with evidence of renal involvement necessitating renal biopsy, and group 1B (n = 13): with no evidence of renal involvement]; and Group 2 (n = 10): healthy participants as controls. Outcomes. Significant differences were found among the studied groups in blood pressure, imaging, renal biopsy findings, and several laboratory parameters (p < 0.05). The LN group showed lower hemoglobin and serum albumin, higher ESR and urine creatinine, and elevated lipid and collagen biomarkers. Significant correlations were observed between collagen biomarkers and inflammatory or complement markers. Multivariate analysis identified serum procollagen III, urinary procollagen III, and the uC3M/uCr ratio as independent predictors of lupus nephritis (p < 0.05). Conclusions. In regression analysis, serum procollagen III, urinary procollagen III, and the uC3M/uCr ratio were significant in univariate analysis and remained independent predictors of lupus nephritis in multivariate analysis.