Background:- renal biopsy the gold standard for diagnosing lupus nephritis (LN) is an invasive technique, other laboratory markers lack sensitivity and specificity. Aim:- to evaluate serum fractalkine (CX3CL1) as a predictor for LN in children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
Methods:- forty four children “5 - 18 years old“ newly diagnosed with SLE, 22 (50.0%) of them were complicated with lupus nephritis “diagnosed by renal biopsy", and 22 healthy age and sex matched children were included. Serum Fractalkine levels were determined using human CX3CL1 ELISA.
Results:- healthy children had lower serum fractalkine levels (median: 950.56 pg/ml, range: 591.55-1583.29) than both patient groups p < 0.001, while there was no significant differences in between patients with LN (median: 1389.35 pg/ml, range 711.22– 16547.51) and without LN (median: 1429.39 pg/ml, range 591.55 – 4700.21), p=0.46. Moreover, serum Fractalkine was not correlated with the stage of LN (r=0.29, P=0.21) Conclusion:- Serum fractalkine is a poor predictor of lupus nephritis in children with SLE, although more studies are still required.