ArticleClinical rheumatology2025
Serum ferritin is a superior biomarker for evaluating disease activity and kidney injury compared with C-reactive protein in anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis.
Article in Clinical rheumatology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Serum ferritin as a predictor of major adverse cardiovascular events in Takayasu arteritis: a two-center retrospective cohort study.Clinical rheumatology · 2026Observational
- The Assessment of Disease Activity and Renal Prognosis in AAV - The Contribution of Urinary Biomarkers and Renal Biopsy.Current rheumatology reports · 2026Review
- Biomarkers in Primary Systemic Vasculitides: Narrative Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Clinical Insights and Therapeutic Strategies for the Treatment of Interstitial Lung Disease in Patients with Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody-Associated Vasculitis: Current Trends and Future Directions.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundElevated C-reactive protein (CRP) is a characteristic of active anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV). However, its relationship with organ involvement severity is ambiguous. Serum ferritin (SF) is a proinflammatory marker elevated in many autoimmune diseases, yet its role in AAV is poorly studied.
methodsA total of 399 AAV patients were retrospectively selected and divided into four groups based on SF and CRP levels. Clinical, laboratory, and pathological data were compared. Survival analyses were conducted to estimate end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and death.
resultsIn this cohort, 256 patients (64.16%) had elevated SF, and 289 (72.43%) had elevated CRP. Patients with elevated SF and normal CRP had the highest BVAS, lowest initial estimated glomerular filtration rate, highest 24-h proteinuria, and worst renal prognosis. SF showed a weak positive correlation with BVAS (R = 0.201, p < 0.001), while CRP showed a weak negative correlation with proteinuria (R = - 0.158, p = 0.002). Univariate Cox regression analysis revealed high SF level was a risk factor for ESRD and death, whereas CRP was not. Pathological tests showed that patients with elevated SF had a higher proportion of glomeruli with cellular crescents compared to those with normal SF. CRP positively correlated serum complement 3 (C3) with SF as a control variable (R = 0.434, p < 0.001), while SF negatively correlated with C3 with CRP as a control variable (R = - 0.201, p < 0.001).
conclusionIn active AAV, high SF is associated with severe injury and poor kidney prognosis, whereas CRP is not. The underlying mechanism may be related to the different impacts on the complement system. Key Points • Patients with elevated SF and normal CRP had the highest BVAS, lowest initial estimated glomerular filtration rate, highest 24-hour proteinuria, and worst renal prognosis. . • CRP positively correlated serum C3 with SF as a control variable, while SF negatively correlated with C3 with CRP as a control variable. • High SF reflects a high proportion of glomeruli with cellular crescents in renal histopathology.
Indexed as
Identifiers
40172815What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.