Case Control Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. May 6, 2023; 11(13): 2934-2944
Published online May 6, 2023. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i13.2934
Association of C-reactive protein and complement factor H gene polymorphisms with risk of lupus nephritis in Chinese population
Qiu-Yu Li, Jian-Min Lv, Xiao-Ling Liu, Hai-Yun Li, Feng Yu
Qiu-Yu Li, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing 100191, China
Jian-Min Lv, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, Shaanxi Province, China
Xiao-Ling Liu, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China
Hai-Yun Li, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, Shaanxi Province, China
Feng Yu, Department of Medicine, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, China
Author contributions: Yu F and Li HY designed the research. Li QY, Lv JM, and Liu XL performed the experiments. Lv JM and Li HY analyzed the data and wrote the paper. All authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The work was approved by the Ethics Committee of Peking University First Hospital [Approval No. 2017(1333)].
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient and her family for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest with the contents of this article.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hai-Yun Li, PhD, Assistant Professor, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi’an Jiaotong University, No. 76 Yanta West Road, Xi'an 710061, Shaanxi Province, China. lihaiy@xjtu.edu.cn
Received: September 16, 2022
Peer-review started: September 16, 2022
First decision: October 11, 2022
Revised: October 25, 2023
Accepted: February 21, 2023
Article in press: February 21, 2023
Published online: May 6, 2023
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Both C-reactive protein (CRP) and complement factor H (CFH) play roles in pathogenesis of lupus nephritis (LN).

Research motivation

It still keeps unclear whether genetic variations of CRP and CFH are involved in risk of LN.

Research objectives

To examine whether genetic variations of CRP and CFH are associated with the susceptibility to LN in the Chinese population.

Research methods

A case control study was conducted, in which six CRP Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) and three CFH SNPs were genotyped and analysed in 270 LN patients and 303 healthy subjects.

Research results

CRP and CFH SNPs, neither individually nor in combination, are associated with the risk or clinical manifestations of LN. Moreover, no linkage was found among CRP and CFH SNPs, indicating lack of genetic interactions between the two genes.

Research conclusions

Biological effects of most genetic variations of CRP and CFH on their expressions or activities are not sufficient to influence the disease course of LN.

Research perspectives

Future studies involving multiple-center sampling are needed to expand the study scale. Moreover, more SNPs should be examined for these two genes, while other molecules along the pathogenesis pathway of CRP and CFH should be involved for a joint analysis.