Urine macrophage migration inhibitory factor in pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus.

We reported a series of ten patients with lupus nephritis (five patients in the relapse phase and five in the remission phase) and measured the macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), an important pro-inflammatory cytokine with probable role in the pathogenesis of many inflammatory diseases, in their urine samples. MIF/creatinine (Cr) ratio directly correlated with disease activity and it does not have any significant difference between inactive disease and normal ones. We found that the urine MIF/Cr ratio not only differentiates active disease from inactive disease and normal ones but also correlates with the activity indices of renal pathology.