Publications

Abstract We evaluated biomarkers related to kidney fibrosis for the outcome of patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN). Clinical parameters (estimated glomerular filtration rate, hypertension, proteinuria) and histological findings were assessed in 134 patients with IgAN at the time of diagnosis and followed up prospectively (mean follow-up time, 56.5 months). We measured biomarkers of collagen and […]

Abstract INTRODUCTION In the AWARD-7 study in patients with type 2 diabetes and moderate-to-severe chronic kidney disease, once-weekly dulaglutide slowed the decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and decreased the urine albumin/creatinine ratio compared to insulin glargine at the end of 52 weeks of treatment. In this exploratory post hoc analysis, changes in two […]

Abstract BACKGROUND Diabetic kidney disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Dysregulated turnover of collagen type III is associated with development of kidney fibrosis. We investigated whether a degradation product of collagen type III (C3M) was a risk marker for progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD), occurrence of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and mortality […]

Abstract BACKGROUND Activity and chronicity of kidney involvement in ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) can be currently reliably evaluated only by kidney biopsy. In this study, we measured a panel of serum and urinary biomarkers collected at the time of kidney biopsy and hypothesized that they could reflect specific histopathological parameters in the biopsy and help to […]

Abstract The type II collagen C-terminal pro-peptide is one of the most abundant polypeptides in cartilage. The purpose of this study was to develop a competitive chemiluminescence enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, CALC2, targeting this pro-peptide as a marker of cartilage formation. Technical assay parameters were evaluated. CALC2 level was measured after in vitro cleavage of recombinant […]

Abstract Protein citrullination and degradation by matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) plays a central role in the pathology of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Autoantibodies are known to target citrullinated vimentin. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the blood levels of MMP-degraded and citrullinated vimentin (VICM), as compared with the levels of MMP-degraded and […]

Abstract OBJECTIVE Chronic inflammatory arthritis is a hallmark of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), where coexistence of Crohn disease (CD) is prominent. We investigated the association between biomarkers of collagen degradation in healthy controls (HCs) and in patients with axSpA, CD, and CD and axSpA overlap (CD-axSpA), with the aim to investigate the ability of the biomarkers […]

Abstract BACKGROUND Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive fibrotic lung disease with a variable clinical trajectory. Decline in forced vital capacity (FVC) is the main indicator of progression; however, missingness prevents long-term analysis of patterns in lung function. We aimed to identify distinct clusters of lung function trajectory among patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis using […]

Abstract OBJECTIVE To investigate correlations between biomarkers of bone remodelling and extracellular matrix turnover with baseline disease activity and treatment response in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS ssessing ery arly heumatoid arthritis reatment-2 (AVERT-2; NCT02504268) included disease-modifying antirheumatic drug-naive, anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA)-positive patients randomised to weekly subcutaneous abatacept+methotrexate (MTX) or abatacept placebo+MTX […]

Abstract BACKGROUND COVID-19 is characterized by a heterogeneous clinical presentation, ranging from mild symptoms to severe courses of disease. 9-20% of hospitalized patients with severe lung disease die from COVID-19 and a substantial number of survivors develop long-COVID. Our objective was to provide comprehensive insights into the pathophysiology of severe COVID-19 and to identify liquid […]