Transcriptome analysis of peripheral blood and renal tissue in proliferative lupus nephritis identifies genes that predict treatment response

Mechanisms contributing to non-response in lupus nephritis (LN) are not clear. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) serve as easily available less invasive alternative to kidney biopsy in monitoring treatment response. However, it is unclear to what extent peripheral blood mirrors the inflamed kidney. Using bio-informatics approach, we first characterized the differential gene expression (DGE) profiles and functionally enriched pathways of PBMCs and renal tissues in LN before and after treatment with CYC-based induction regimen. For this, PBMC and renal tissues from 16 proliferative LN was collected at baseline, six months and at the time of flare within two years of follow-up. RNA extracted was sequenced on Illumina Novaseq 6000 platform. From their baseline PBMC or renal samples using weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), we also aimed to identify markers that could predict treatment response.