A study of clinicopathological features and selected laboratory parameters in a cohort of Sri Lankan patients with lupus nephritis

Introduction: Lupus nephritis (LN) is a complication of systemic lupus erythematosus that results in significant morbidity and mortality. Several studies have shown an association between certain pathological lesions and laboratory parameters in LN.
Objective: The objectives were to describe the clinicopathological features and laboratory parameters in a cohort of Sri Lankan patients with biopsy-proven LN and determine the associations between the pathological features and laboratory parameters.
Method: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional study of all renal biopsies of LN reported at the Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo from January 2017 to December 2021.
Results: Eighty cases were identified. The majority were females (95%, 76/80). The mean age at biopsy was 27 ± 10.71 years. Subnephrotic range proteinuria (43.8%, 35/80) was the commonest presentation. The most frequent histological type was class IV (66.3%, 53/80) followed by class II (15%, 12/80) and class III (10%, 8/80). Serum creatinine showed a significant association with both activity and chronicity indices. Glomerulosclerosis showed an association with serum creatinine levels while cellular/fibrocellular crescents were associated with both serum creatinine levels and red cells in urine.
Conclusion: In this cohort of Sri Lankan patients with LN, the serum creatinine level showed an association with activity/chronicity indices and the presence of glomerulosclerosis and crescents in the renal biopsy. The presence of red cells in urine showed an association with crescents.