Composition for diagnosing or treating kidney disease

A method of screening a therapeutic agent for treating a kidney disease, comprising:

• isolating a biological sample from a patient suspected of having the kidney disease;
• treating the biological sample with a test substance;
• measuring an expression level of VSIG4 mRNA in the biological sample treated with the test substance by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using
• a forward primer having the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:
• 1 and a reverse primer having the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:
• 2;
• measuring an expression level of the VSIG4 protein in the biological sample treated with the test substance by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using an anti-VSIG4 antibody;
• and
• selecting the test substance as a therapeutic agent for treating the kidney disease when the expression level of VSIG4 or a gene encoding VSIG4 is reduced in the biological sample treated with the test substance as compared to a control sample not treated with the test substance,
• wherein the kidney disease is selected from the group consisting of diabetic nephropathy, hypertensive nephropathy, glomerulonephritis, polycystic kidney disease, and urinary trace obstruction.