Correlation between serum soluble CD206 and disease activity in patients with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated glomerulonephritis

doi:10.16150/j.1671-2870.2026.03.012

Abstract

Abstract:

Objective This study aims to investigate the expression characteristics of serum soluble CD206 (sCD206) in patients with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA)-associated glomerulonephritis (AGN) and its value in assessing disease activity. Methods A total of 54 AGN patients hospitalized in the Department of Nephrology of Ruijin Hospital from January 2020 to December 2022 were consecutively enrolled, and 38 active-phase serum specimens and 29 remission-phase specimens for each were collected. Among them, 13 patients provided both active-phase and remission-phase serum specimens. Additionally, 14 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers were recruited as controls. Serum sCD206 levels of all subjects were measured using double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Comparisons were made among healthy controls, active-phase AGN patients, and remission-phase AGN patients. Paired analysis was performed on active-phase and remission-phase specimens from the 13 patients who achieved clinical remission during the study period. Correlations between serum sCD206 levels and AGN-related clinical indicators [serum creatinine, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), 24-hour urinary protein, Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score (BVAS), erythrocyte sedimentation rate, etc.] were analyzed. The efficacy of serum sCD206 levels on assessing disease remission in AGN was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results Serum sCD206 levels in active-phase AGN patients [(2.359±0.827) AU] were significantly higher than those in remission-phase patients [(0.989±0.230) AU] and healthy controls [(1.074±0.528) AU] (all P<0.000 1). The serum sCD206 levels of the same patients during the remission phase were significantly lower than those during the active phase (ΔsCD206=1.439±0.873 AU, P<0.01). There was no significant difference in serum sCD206 levels between remission-phase AGN patients and healthy controls (P>0.05). Correlation analysis showed that serum sCD206 levels in active-phase AGN patients were positively correlated with BVAS (r=0.577, P<0.001). ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of serum sCD206 levels for assessing clinical remission in AGN patients was 0.876. The optimal cutoff value was 1.547 AU, with a sensitivity of 86.21% and a specificity of 78.95%. Conclusions Serum sCD206 levels decrease significantly as disease activity declines, and can serve as a potential biomarker for evaluating clinical remission in AGN patients.

Key words: Soluble CD206, Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies, Glomerulonephritis

CLC Number:

WEI Zhaonan, AN Xiaoning, NI Liyan, SHEN Pingyan, SHI Hao, ZHANG Wen, CHEN Yongxi. Correlation between serum soluble CD206 and disease activity in patients with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated glomerulonephritis[J]. Journal of Diagnostics Concepts & Practice, 2026, 25(03): 354-360.

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Item	Patients with active vasculitis	Patients with remissive vasculitis
Sex
Male[n（%）]	20（52.63%）	9（31.03%）
Female[n（%）]	18（47.37%）	20（68.97%）
Age（year）	66（59-71）	67（61-71）
Serum creatinine（μmol/L）	309（173-466）	123（89-180）
eGFR（mL/min）	17.00（9.55-31.65）	47.30（28.80-68.10）
Proteinuria（mg/24 h）	1 990（1 240-3 048）	398（151-637）

Item	serum sCD206
Item	r	P
Serum creatinine	-0.002	0.988
eGFR	-0.132	0.437
MPO-ANCA titer	0.058	0.735
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate	-0.082	0.654

Item	Active patients (BVAS>0)	Remissive patients (BVAS=0)	Total
sCD206 positive (≥1.547)	25	8	33
sCD206 negative (<1.547)	4	30	34
Total	29	38