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Value of a commercial kit for detecting anti-C1q autoantibodies and correlation with immunological and clinical activity of lupus nephritis

  • Federica de Liso EMAIL logo , Caterina Matinato , Cristina Novembrino , Antonella Radice , Francesca Raffiotta , Mariangela Ronchi , Maria Daniela Croci , Renato Alberto Sinico , Piergiorgio Messa , Erminio Torresani and Gabriella Moroni
Published/Copyright: April 14, 2015
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Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM)
From the journal Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM) Volume 53 Issue 11

Abstract

Background: The association of anti-C1q antibodies (anti-C1q) with the renal activity of lupus nephritis (LN) and the methods for their determination is still a matter of debate.

Methods: In 116 serum samples of 66 patients with biopsy proven LN, we aimed: 1) to compare the results of the determination of anti-C1q obtained by a commercial kit with a clinically validated in-house ELISA; 2) to evaluate the correlation of anti-C1q with the most important immunological and clinical parameters employed in LN, i.e., antibodies to dsDNA (anti-dsDNA), C3 and C4 complement component, haemoglobin and haematuria.

Results: Good correlation and agreement between the two methods (r=0.81, p<0.0001; contingency coefficient=0.70, p<0.0001, respectively) were demonstrated. No differences were observed between the two assays by ROC curves comparison. Anti-C1q levels were significantly higher in patients with active LN [44 arbitrary units (AUs)] in comparison to those with inactive LN (23 AUs, p=0.047) and significantly correlated with anti-dsDNA (r=0.44, p<0.0001), complement fractions (C3: r=−0.33, p=0.001; C4: r=−0.29, p=0.003), haemoglobin levels (r=−0.34, p=0.0004) and the number of urinary red blood cells (r=0.26, p=0.01).

Conclusions: Our results suggest the validity of this commercial assay in detecting anti-C1q and confirm the association of anti-C1q with renal involvement of LN and the importance of introducing this parameter in the analytical panel for the evaluation of LN activity.

Keywords: anti-C1q autoantibodies; lupus nephritis; method comparison
Corresponding author: Federica de Liso, Laboratory of Clinical Chemistry and Microbiology, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Via F. Sforza 35, 20122 Milan, Italy, Phone: +39 0255032582, Fax: +39 0255032397, E-mail:

Acknowledgments

The work was supported by the grant “Project in glomerulonephritis” in memory of Pippo Neglia.

Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.

Financial support: None declared.

Employment or leadership: None declared.

Honorarium: None declared.

Competing interests: The funding organisation(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.

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Received: 2015-1-21
Accepted: 2015-3-8
Published Online: 2015-4-14
Published in Print: 2015-10-1

©2015 by De Gruyter

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https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2015-0072
Keywords for this article
anti-C1q autoantibodies; lupus nephritis; method comparison

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorials
  3. Laboratory medicine does matter in science (and medicine)… yet many seem to ignore it
  4. The standardization of the urine albumin assays: no longer deferrable
  5. Reviews
  6. The role of telomeres and vitamin D in cellular aging and age-related diseases
  7. Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome: from diagnosis to treatment
  8. Clinical relevance and contemporary methods for counting blood cells in body fluids suspected of inflammatory disease
  9. EFLM Opinion Paper
  10. How to assess the quality of your analytical method?
  11. Genetics and Molecular Diagnostics
  12. Validation of CFTR intronic variants identified during cystic fibrosis population screening by a minigene splicing assay
  13. General Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
  14. Uncertainty in measurement for 43 biochemistry, immunoassay, and hemostasis routine analytes evaluated by a method using only external quality assessment data
  15. A study examining the bias of albumin and albumin/creatinine ratio measurements in urine
  16. National survey on appropriateness of clinical biochemistry reporting in China
  17. Potentiometric measurement of urinary iodine concentration in patients with thyroid diseases with and without previous exposure to non-radioactive iodine
  18. Determination of 21-hydroxylase autoantibodies: inter-laboratory concordance in the Euradrenal International Serum Exchange Program
  19. Value of a commercial kit for detecting anti-C1q autoantibodies and correlation with immunological and clinical activity of lupus nephritis
  20. Comparison of the bead-based simultaneous analysis of specific platelet antibodies assay (SASPA) and Pak Lx Luminex technology with the monoclonal antibody immobilization of platelet antigens assay (MAIPA) to detect platelet alloantibodies
  21. Measurement of the inflammatory response in the early postoperative period after hip and knee arthroplasty
  22. Whole blood thromboelastometry profiles in women with preeclampsia
  23. Increased plasma soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor levels in systemic sclerosis: possible association with microvascular abnormalities and extent of fibrosis
  24. Reference Values and Biological Variations
  25. Reference ranges of serum bile acids in children and adolescents
  26. Infectious Diseases
  27. Elevated circulating ghrelin, but not peptide YY(3-36) levels, in term neonates with infection
  28. Cardiovascular Diseases
  29. Head-to-head comparison of 10 natriuretic peptide assays
  30. Prognostic role of BNP in children undergoing surgery for congenital heart disease: analysis of prediction models incorporating standard risk factors
  31. Elevations of inflammatory markers PTX3 and sST2 after resuscitation from cardiac arrest are associated with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome and early death
  32. Identification of molecular species of oxidized triglyceride in plasma and its distribution in lipoproteins
  33. A new formula for estimation of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in an ethnic Chinese population
  34. Letter to the Editors
  35. Laboratory medicine: let’s say it is the mirror of science (and medicine)
  36. The economic burden of hemolysis
  37. Acute effects of conventional and extended hemodialysis and hemodiafiltration on high-sensitivity cardiac troponins
  38. Cuvette carryover with the gentamicin assay on the Beckman AU480 analyser
  39. Comparison study of two commercially available methods for the determination of golimumab and anti-golimumab antibody levels in patients with rheumatic diseases
  40. Automated alkaline-pH electrophoresis followed by densitometry does not correlate with cation-exchange (CE)-HPLC in quantification of HbA2 and variant hemoglobins
  41. Progression from light chain myeloma to secondary plasma cell leukemia accompanied by peripheral blood eosinophilia
  42. Harmonization of results has not been fully achieved for serum immunoglobulin measurements
  43. The risk of macrovascular complications in subjects genotyped for common IL-6 gene and TNF-α gene variants
  44. Comparison of nucleated red blood cell count with four commercial hematological analyzers
  45. Reply to: The risk of macrovascular complications in subjects genotyped for common IL-6 gene and TNF-α gene variants
  46. Congress Abstracts
  47. Congress of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
  48. 47th National Congress of the Italian Society of Clinical Biochemistry and Clinical Molecular Biology (SIBioC – Laboratory Medicine)
  49. 15th EFLM Continuous Postgraduate Course in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
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