Abstract: Abstract：Objective To investigate the correlation between serum levels of periostin (POSTN) and syndecan-4 (SDC4) and 24-hour urinary protein and renal pathological grade in children with Henoch-schönlein purpura nephritis (HSPN). Methods A total of 58 children who were diagnosed as HSPN by renal biopsy in the Second Affiliated Hospital of University of South China from January 2015 to December 2018 were selected in this study. They were divided into four groups according to renal pathology results: grade ≤Ⅱa (n=15), grade Ⅱb (n=19), grade Ⅲa (n=15) and grade ≥Ⅲb (n=9). The serum levels of POSTN and SDC4 were measured by ELISA, and 24-hour urine protein was quantified by end-point method. The difference of each index in different pathological grades was compared and the correlation between each index and renal pathological grade was analyzed. Results There were significantly differences in serum levels of POSTN, SDC4 and 24-hour urine protein between children with different pathological grades (P＜0.05). The level of each index was increased accompanied with the increase of pathological grade (P＜0.05). There were positive correlations between the serum levels of POSTN, SDC4 and 24-hour urine protein in 58 children with HSPN (r = 0.616, 0.651, respectively, all P＜ 0.05). The serum level of POSTN was positively correlated with the serum level of SDC4 (r = 0.512, P＜0.05). The serum levels of POSTN, SDC4 and 24-hour urine protein were all positively correlated to the renal pathological grade (rs = 0.705, 0.589, 0.661, respectively, all P＜0.05). Conclusion The determination of the serum levels of POSTN, SDC4 and 24-hour urine protein may be used to assess the severity of renal injury in children with HSPN.

Key words: periostin, syndecan-4, 24-hour urine protein, henoch-sch?nlein purpura nephritis, child