Lupus nephritis (LN), a potentially destructive outcome of SLE, is a real challenge in the
management of SLE because of the difficulty in diagnosing its subclinical onset and
identifying relapses before serious complications set in. Conventional clinical parameters
such as proteinuria, GFR, urine sediments, anti-dsDNA and complement levels are not
sensitive or specific enough for detecting ongoing disease activity in lupus kidneys and early
relapse of nephritis. There has long been a need for biomarkers of disease activity in LN …