Multifunctional Magnetic Resonance Imaging for the assessment of renal pathological alterations in IgA Nephropathy | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Multifunctional Magnetic Resonance Imaging for the assessment of renal pathological alterations in IgA Nephropathy Aiqun Chen, Ban Zhao, Ying Sun, Jinsong Zhang, Fang Fang, Yong-hui Mao This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8240997/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background : Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a noninvasive method to evaluate the renal volume, function, perfusion, and degree of injury. We aimed to evaluate the application of fMRI in assessing the renal histopathological injuries in patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN). Methods: 95 patients were prospectively enrolled, fMRI including intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) were performed, renal biopsy was performed within 3 days after fMRI examination. 31 patients with pathologically confirmed IgAN were selected for further analysis, glomerulosclerosis index (GSI) and tubulointerstitial fibrosis index (TBI) were assessed by two experienced pathologists. Results: Both GSI and TBI were negatively correlated with the true diffusion coefficient (D, cortex), mean diffusivity (MD, cortex and medulla), fractional anisotropy (FA, medulla), and axial diffusivity (Da, cortex and medulla), and positively correlated with the mean kurtosis (MK, cortex) and axial kurtosis (Ka, cortex and medulla). The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves (AUCs) for the discrimination of a ≤ 25% versus >25% GSI were 0.74, 0.79, 0.88, 0.76, 0.75, and 0.80 by the D (cortex), Da (medulla), FA (medulla), MK (cortex) and Ka (cortex and medulla), respectively; And the AUCs for distinguishing a ≤ 25% versus > 25% TBI were 0.73, 0.75, 0.81, 0.79, 0.80, 0.72, 0.81, and 0.83 by the MD (cortex and medulla), Da (medulla), FA (medulla), MK (cortex and medulla), and Ka (cortex and medulla), respectively. The AUCs for differentiating a ≤ 25% and > 25% GSI and TBI were 0.900 and 0.80, 0.82 and 0.86 by DTI and DKI composite parameter, respectively. Conclusions : DTI and DKI were valuable sequences for assessment of renal moderate-to-severe histopathological alterations in patients with IgAN. Trial registration : This study was registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial registry with the registration number was ChiCTR1800020390. Functional magnetic resonance imaging IgA nephropathy renal pathological injury Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files SupplementaryMaterial.xlsx FigureS1..pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 29 Dec, 2025 Reviews received at journal 28 Dec, 2025 Reviews received at journal 22 Dec, 2025 Reviews received at journal 19 Dec, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 Dec, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 10 Dec, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 10 Dec, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 08 Dec, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 05 Dec, 2025 First submitted to journal 05 Dec, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8240997","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":558496326,"identity":"03e94231-c2c5-4bcc-a701-30d547beadc4","order_by":0,"name":"Aiqun Chen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Beijing Hospital, National center of Gerontology; Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Aiqun","middleName":"","lastName":"Chen","suffix":""},{"id":558496329,"identity":"9560e6a9-5e41-4a78-ba11-8a0820643460","order_by":1,"name":"Ban 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