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Background IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is the most common glomerulonephritis worldwide and is an important cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Exploring novel biomarkers is necessary for predicting the disease activity and progression of IgAN patients. The present study sought to investigate the value of serum C4 for predicting the prognosis of IgAN patients. Methods The primary endpoint of this retrospective study was a composite event of either a ≥ 50% reduction in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) or end-stage renal disease (ESRD) or death. The associations between serum C4 and clinicopathological parameters and prognosis of this cohort of IgAN patients were evaluated. Results The present study included 1356 IgAN patients. Serum C4 levels correlated significantly with clinical prognostic factors. Serum C4 levels correlated positively with urinary protein excretion ( r = 0.307, P < 0.001), and negatively correlated with estimated glomerular filtration rate ( r = − 0.281, P < 0.001). Furthermore, serum C4 levels increased with aggravation of tubulointerstitial injury, crescents and ratios of global sclerosis (all P < 0.05). Prognostic analyses with the Cox proportional hazards regression model and Kaplan-Meier survival curves further identified serum C4 as an independent risk factor for the prognosis of IgAN. Conclusions The present study identified serum C4 as a useful predictor for the prognosis of IgAN patients. The mechanism of the trend of serum C4 in IgAN needs to be illustrated in further research. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12882-019-1420-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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