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. 2025 Feb 5;15(1):4323.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-86488-9.

Urinary interleukin 13 level in steroid sensitive and resistant nephrotic syndrome: a cross-sectional single center study

Behnam Ermian  1 , Noosha Samieefar  2   3 , Aida Vahidi  4 , Daryoush Fahimi  2 , Niloufar Peirovi  1 , Mohamed Husein Aldokhi  1 , Behnaz Bazargani  2 , Arash Abbasi  2 , Fahimeh Askarian  2 , Mastaneh Moghtaderi  5
Affiliations

Urinary interleukin 13 level in steroid sensitive and resistant nephrotic syndrome: a cross-sectional single center study

Behnam Ermian et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Nephrotic syndrome, the most common glomerular disease in pediatric population, is classified into two groups of steroid sensitive (SSNS) and resistant (SSRS). There is growing evidence on the role of T cells cytokines, including interleukin-13, in pathophysiology of nephrotic syndrome and steroid response. This study was a cross-sectional study conducted at Children's Medical Center Hospital in order to explore the relationship between urinary IL-13 levels and responsiveness to corticosteroid treatment. All children (1 to 15 years) referred from January 2021 to January 2022 diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome were included. Urine samples were collected during the initial phase or relapse of nephrotic syndrome, before the initiation of steroid or alternative treatments. Interleukin-13 levels in the urine were measured using the ELISA method. In this study, 83 cases of nephrotic syndrome were enrolled, of whom 30 (36.1%) were girls and 53 (63.9%) were boys. Out of the 83 cases, 63 (75.9%) were identified as SSNS and 20 (24.1%) as SRNS. There was no significant difference between the urinary interleukin-13 levels between SSNS and SRNS groups (P-value: 0.84). Sex (P-value: 0.598) and age (P-value: 0.704) also had no association with interleukin-13 levels. Further studies in larger population are recommended to better assess the potential of this biomarker to predict response to treatment. .

Keywords: Child; Idiopathic; Nephrotic syndrome; Steroid-resistant; Steroids.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethical approval: Informed consent was obtained from all participants. Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the Ethics Committee of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, allowing access to and extraction of patient data from hospital files and records (Batch Number: IR.TUMS.CHMC.REC.1401.188). All methods of project were carried out in accordance with and the manuscript has been written aligned with STROBE checklist for observational studies.

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