Thrombospondin type I domain-containing 7A (THSD7A), is a specific autoantigen of adult idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN), whose circulating antibody (THSD7A-AB) represents a promising biomarker for diagnosis of IMN. The objective of this meta-analysis is to investigate the diagnostic efficiency of THSD7A-AB for IMN. After rigorous data extraction, quality assessment, and data analysis, 10 articles (4545 patients) are included. For IMN, the summary sensitivity is 4% (2-7%), and the specificity is 99% (98-100%). The summary positive likelihood ratio (PLR) and negative likelihood ratio (NLR) are 5.40 (2.40-11.90) and 0.97 (0.95-0.99), respectively. The diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) is 6.00 (2.00-12.00). The area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) is 0.78 (0.74-0.81). For M-type phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R)-negative IMN, the summary sensitivity is 8% (6-10%), specificity is 100% (99-100%). The summary PLR and NLR are 15.80 (5.70-44.00) and 0.93 (0.91-0.95), respectively. The DOR is 17.00 (6.00-48.00). The AUC is 0.99 (0.98-1.00). THSD7A-AB has higher diagnostic value in PLA2R-negative patients than in IMN patients. These results suggest that THSD7A-AB could possibly be applied as an auxiliary non-invasive diagnostic method for PLA2R-negative IMN.
Keywords: diagnostic efficiency; idiopathic membranous nephropathy; meta‐analysis.
© 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.