ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Autoimmune and Autoinflammatory Disorders: Autoinflammatory Disorders
Serum and Urine Anti-PLA2R Antibody Correlation with Albuminuria in Idiopathic Membranous Nephropathy
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shenzhen Hengsheng Hospital, Guangdong, Shenzhen, China
- 2Beihai People’s Hospital, Beihai, China
- 3First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
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Objective: This study aimed to investigate the correlation between anti-phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R) levels in serum and urine with clinical parameters, particularly albuminuria, in patients with idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN). Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from 30 patients with biopsy-proven PLA2R-related IMN diagnosed between 2016 and 2022 at two medical centers. Serum and urine anti-PLA2R antibody levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We assessed the correlation between antibody levels and clinical parameters, including plasma albumin, 24-hour urine protein quantification, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Patients were staged according to the Ehrenreich-Churg classification. Results: Serum anti-PLA2R antibody levels showed a significant negative correlation with plasma albumin (r = -0.469, P < 0.05), whereas urine anti-PLA2R antibody levels exhibited a weak, but significant, positive correlation with 24-hour urine protein excretion (r = 0.362, P=0.049). Patients with higher serum anti-PLA2R antibody titers had significantly lower plasma albumin levels (20.63 ± 4.79 g/L) compared to those with lower titers (27.71 ± 6.78 g/L) (P < 0.05). Conversely, patients with higher urine anti-PLA2R antibody titers had significantly higher 24-hour urine protein quantification (9.22 ± 4.17 g) compared to those with lower titers (5.32 ± 3.09 g) (P < 0.05). Conclusion: In patients with IMN, serum anti-PLA2R antibody concentrations are inversely associated with plasma albumin, while urine anti-PLA2R antibody levels are positively associated with 24-hour urine protein quantification. These findings suggest that combined assessment of serum and urine anti-PLA2R antibody levels may provide valuable insights into disease activity and albuminuria in IMN. Further studies with larger cohorts are needed to validate these findings and explore their potential clinical implications.
Keywords: M-type phospholipase A2 receptor, Anti-M-type phospholipase A2 receptor antibody, Idiopathic membranous nephropathy, Plasma albumin, 24-hour urine protein quantification, Albuminuria
Received: 22 Jul 2025; Accepted: 10 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Fu, Sui, Wang and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xiaogang Liu, xiaogangliu5031@163.com
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