Correlation of urinary soluble CD163 levels with disease activity and treatment response in IgA nephropathy

The TESTING trial demonstrated that corticosteroids reduce the risk of kidney failure in patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN) but increase the risk of serious adverse events. Reliable noninvasive biomarkers are needed to identify patients who would benefit most from corticosteroid therapy. Previous studies suggest glomerular macrophage infiltration is associated with response to immunosuppressive therapy in IgAN and urinary soluble CD163 (u-sCD163, a marker of alternatively activated macrophages M2c macrophage) is correlated with clinical remission in vasculitis. This study aims to investigate the association between u-sCD163 and response of steroids therapy in IgAN.