Biomarker studies
evaluation of renal flares, kidney function decline and the association between UBs and outcomes. In conclusion, the results from this study show that UBs measured 2 years after the LN flare were associated with a subsequent LN flare and a significant decline in kidney function during follow-up and could be surrogate markers for ongoing histologic activity. Author affiliations 1 Schroeder Arthritis Institute, Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 2 University of Toronto Lupus Clinic, Centre for Prognosis Studies in the Rheumatic Diseases, Schroeder Arthritis Institute, Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 3 Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 4 Division of Rheumatology, Schroeder Arthritis Institute, Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 5 Department of Biostatistics, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 6 Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Acknowledgements This work has been previously presented in conference meetings. 62 Contributors All authors were involved in drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content and all authors approved the final version to be published. JW and LPWG were responsible for study conception and design. LPWG, RB and DB were responsible for the acquisition of data. RB and MK were responsible for the urinary biomarker quantification. LPWG, MU, DDG, ZT, QL and JW were responsible for the analysis and interpretation of data. The Guarantor is JW. Funding JW is supported by The Arthritis Centre of Excellence, the University of Toronto Department of Medicine and the Schroeder Arthritis Institute. LPWG is supported by a Research Excellence, Diversity and Independence (REDI) Early Career Transition Award, from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Arthritis Society. ZT is supported by the University of Toronto Department of Medicine and the MU Chair in Lupus Research. The Toronto Lupus Program is supported by Lupus Ontario, the Schroeder Arthritis Institute, the MU Chair in Lupus Research and donations to the UHN Foundation. The funders were not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication. Competing interests None declared. Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research. Patient consent for publication Not applicable. Ethics approval The study was approved by the Research Ethics Board of the University Health Network (REB#11-0397 and REB#05-0869). All participants signed informed consent. Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed. Data availability statement All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information. Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise. Open access This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (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, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
ORCID iDs Laura Patricia Whittall Garcia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5762-4469 Dafna D Gladman https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9074-0592 Murray Urowitz https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7506-9166
Zahi Touma https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5177-2076 Joan Wither https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5961-9228
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Baker R, et al . Lupus Science & Medicine 2026; 13 :e001724. doi:10.1136/lupus-2025-001724
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