Relationship of lupus nephritis and pregnancy: A narrative review

Table 4 Features important in differentiating lupus nephritis from pre-eclampsia

Features	Lupus nephritis	Pre-eclampsia
Timing	Any time during pregnancy	After 20 weeks of gestation
Hypertension	Can be present or absent	Always present
Other organ involvement	Present (e.g., skin, joints)	Absent
Complement levels (C3, C4)	Decreased or normal	Normal
Anti-dsDNA	Positive	Negative
Lupus serology	Active disease markers present	Usually absent
Active urinary sediment Urinary calcium Response to steroids	Present	Absent
	> 195 mg/d	< 195 mg/d
	Generally responsive	No response
Platelet count	Usually normal or mildly low	Often low (thrombocytopenia)
Liver enzymes	Usually normal	Elevated (HELLP syndrome)

HELLP: Hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelets.