Dyslipidemia in evaluation of inflammatory state and disease activity in lupus nephritis patients with cardiovascular damage

  AIM  To evaluate the prevalence of dyslipidemia in a lupus nephritis (LN) population with cardiovascular damage and its association with LN disease activity.

  METHODS  A retrospective study enrolled 39 patients with LN and cardiovascular damage and 39 healthy individuals. Complete clinical and demographic characteristics of the patients were obtained at diagnosis before corticosteroid treatment from their medical records and similar data were extracted from the controls. Total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-C, HDL-C levels and their correlations with the disease activity were analyzed.

  RESULTS  Prior to the corticosteroid therapy, TG was significantly higher and HDL-C was lower in patients with LN and cardiovascular damage than those in controls (2.0±1.4 vs. 1.0±0.4, P<0.01; 1.03±0.42 vs. 1.31±0.23, P<0.01). TG was negatively correlated with IgG (r = −0.32, P<0.05) and positively correlated with C3 (r = 0.44, P<0.01). The AUC for TG was 0.8261 (sensitivity 79.49%; specificity 76.92%), at a cut-off value of 1.295. The AUC for HDL-C was 0.7794 (sensitivity 76.92%; specificity 74.36%), at a cut-off value of 1.165.

  CONCLUSION  TG is significantly higher and HDL-C is lower in patients with LN and cardiovascular damage compared with those in controls. TG and HDL-C could predict the disease activity in patients with LN and cardiovascular damage.