Background Nephritis is a recognised complication of IgA vasculitis (IgAV, Henoch-Schönlein purpura) contributing to 1–2% of all chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 5. Improved understanding may reduce irreversible damage in IgAV nephritis (IgAV-N). Objective The aim of this study was to perform a comprehensive systematic literature review to identify promising clinical and pre-clinical urine biomarkers in children with IgAV-N that could predict the presence of nephritis and/or determine its severity. Methods A systematic literature review was performed using four search engines and a predefined search term strategy. Promising biomarkers were divided in terms of clinical or pre-clinical and ability to predict the presence of nephritis or determine its severity. Results were described using statistical significance (p < 0.05) and area under the curve (AUC) values. Results One hundred twenty-one studies were identified; 13 were eligible. A total of 2446 paediatric patients were included: healthy controls (n = 761), children with IgAV-N (n = 1236) and children with IgAV without nephritis (IgAV-noN, n = 449). Fifty-one percent were male, median age 7.9 years. The clinical markers, 24-h protein quantity and urine protein:creatinine ratio, were deemed acceptable for assessing severity of nephritis (AUC < 0.8). Urinary albumin concentration (Malb) performed well (AUC 0.81–0.98). The most promising pre-clinical urinary biomarkers in predicting presence of nephritis were as follows: kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) (AUC 0.93), monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) (AUC 0.83), N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase (NAG) (0.76–0.96), and angiotensinogen (AGT) (AUC not available). Urinary KIM-1, MCP-1, and NAG appeared to correlate with disease severity. Conclusions Longitudinal studies are needed to assess whether pre-clinical biomarkers enhance standard of care in IgAV-N.

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