UNDERSTANDING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN URINARY SUPAR AND TREATMENT RESPONSE IN PEDIATRIC NEPHROTIC SYNDROME

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between the concentration of urinary soluble urokinase plasminogen activator (suPAR) pretreatment with the treatment responsiveness in children with primary nephrotic syndrome. Methods: Longitudinal follow-up study. Results: A study of 30 children diagnosed with the initial nephrotic syndrome was followed up at Hue Pediatric Center of Hue Central Hospital and Pediatrics Departement of Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital. Urinary suPAR/creatinine ratio was 2712 ± 2217 pg/mg (605 - 11443 pg/mg), urinary suPAR/creatinine ratio in children 1-6 years old was significantly higher than that in group 7-15 years old, there was no signifficant difference about urinary suPAR between hematuria and non-hematuria group. Urinary suPAR/creatinine ratio was not significantly associated with serum albumin, glomerular filtration rate and proteinuria. After 2 months of steroid treatment, 100% patients was completely remission. Following- up 28 patients after 6 months of steroid treatment: the rate of completely remission, infrequent relapse and frequent relapse were 67.8%, 25% and 7.2% respectively, there was no signifficant difference about urinary suPAR/creatinine ratio among three groups. Conclusions: Pre-treatment urinary suPAR/creatinine ratio do not help predict the ability of steroid responsiveness in the early period of treatment. More research is needed to understand more the role of urinary suPAR in pediatric nephrotic syndrome. Key words: soluble urokinase plasminogen activator, urinary suPAR, childhood nephrotic syndrome