In previous studies, the soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 measured in urine showed a strong association with the presence of lupus nephritis, with clinical and histological activity indexes of the disease and with more severe renal lesions.
NTS challenged mice exhibited significantly increased kidney expression of inflammatory cytokines including RANTES, IP-10, VCAM-1 and iNOS, whereas GW2580-treated mice were protected from the robust expression of these inflammatory cytokines that are associated with lupus nephritis.
Urinary HER-2 was increased in LN and reflected disease activity, and its levels correlated with those of 2 other recognized LN biomarkers, MCP-1 and VCAM-1.