Antiphospholipid Antibodies in Patients with Membranous Nephropathy.
BACKGROUND/AIM
The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and significance of antiphospholipid antibodies in patients with membranous nephropathy (MN).


METHODS
Patients hospitalized with MN during June 2015 to June 2017 were selected and patients with minimal change disease (MCD) or focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) in the same period were selected as controls.


RESULTS
Overall, 267 patients with MN and 131 patients with MCD/FSGS (n = 101 MCD and n = 30 FSGS) were analyzed. There was a significant difference in the detection rate of anti-β2-glycoprotein I (anti-β2-GPI) antibodies (11.9% in MN vs. 4.5% in MCD/FSGS, p = 0.018) and IgG-anti-β2-GPI antibodies (3.7% in MN vs. 0% in MCD/FSGS, p = 0.034) between the 2 groups. Anti-β2-GPI antibody-positive MN patients (n = 32) had a lower serum C4 level than anti-β2-GPI antibody-negative MN patients (n = 235; 21.6 ± 7.6 vs. 24.6 ± 7.1 mg/dL, p = 0.030). Anti-β2-GPI antibody-positive MN patients had significant improvement of serum creatinine compared to anti-β2-GPI antibody-negative patients after 24 weeks of treatment (p = 0.006).


CONCLUSIONS
Anti-β2-GPI antibody may play a role in the progression of MN, and this process might involve classic complement activation.
['Zhang|Qiankun|Q|', 'Wang|Yaomin|Y|', 'Xu|Ying|Y|', 'Lan|Lan|L|', 'Chen|Jianghua|J|', 'Han|Fei|F|']
D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D017153:Antibodies, Anticardiolipin D017152:Antibodies, Antiphospholipid D002681:China D003167:Complement Activation D018450:Disease Progression D005260:Female D015433:Glomerulonephritis, Membranous D005923:Glomerulosclerosis, Focal Segmental D006801:Humans D007074:Immunoglobulin G D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D009402:Nephrosis, Lipoid D012189:Retrospective Studies D055815:Young Adult D053482:beta 2-Glycoprotein I
Membranous nephropathy Minimal change disease Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis Complement activation Anti-β2-glycoprotein I antibodies