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Osteopontin N-Half in urine - A potential biomarker for Lupus Nephritis

It has been suggested that Osteopontin (OPN) N-Half can be a novel biomarker of Lupus nephritis (LN) from the following article.
Cleaved Form of Osteopontin in Urine as a Clinical Marker of Lupus Nephritis. Kitagori K et al. PLoS One. 2016; 11(12): e0167141.

A research group led by Prof. Tsuneyo Mimori, Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University reviewed a possibility of a novel biomarker of OPN by measuring LN patient samples using two ELISA kits that specifically detect OPN full and OPN N-Half.

The utility of OPN full and OPN N-half in urine samples of 56 SLE patient (29 LN and 27 non-LN), 14 IgA nephropathy (IgAN), 5 minimal change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS), 14 diabetic nephropathy (DN) and 17 healthy volunteers (HC) were assessed. In the result, no significant different of concentration of OPN full in the urine samples was found among the group.

On the other hand, the concentration of OPN N-Half in the urine samples of LN patient was much higher than HC group. In addition, the concentration in urine of LN patients with high albuminuria is higher than LN patient with low albuminuria or DN patient with high albuminuria. Thrombin activity in urine was correlated with the concentration of OPN N-Half. In conclusion of these research result, it can be considered that the concentration of OPN N-Half in urine is reflected to inflammation of kidney and it suggests that OPN N-Half can be a novel biomarker of LN. 

Learn more about the study from the original publication below.
Cleaved Form of Osteopontin in Urine as a Clinical Marker of Lupus Nephritis. Kitagori K et al. PLoS One. 2016; 11(12): e0167141.

The following our 2 ELISA kits are used in the article.
#27158 Human Osteopontin Assay Kit – IBL
#27258 Human Osteopontin N-Half Assay Kit – IBL

About Lupus Nephritis (LN)
Lupus Nephritis (LN) is one of autoimmune diseases that can be often found in Systemic Lupus Erythematodes (SLE) patients and inflammation is caused by deposition of complex of autoantibodies on glomerulus of kidney. Although serum creatinine or albuminuria are normally used as a marker, a novel useful biomarker is desired for distinguished diagnosis from any other kidney diseases.

About Osteopontin (OPN)
Osteopontin (OPN) is a liquid factor that is made by osteoblast, macrophage, active T cell and distal tubule endothelial cells and it has an important role such as bone absorption and immune response, and it is also considered as an important factor of pathophysiology of SLE. Since OPN has a region that is cleaved by thrombin at the middle, both full length OPN (OPN full) and cleaved OPN (OPN N-Half) exist.