Clinical and Pathomorphological Correlations in Primary Proliferative Glomerulonephritis

Abstract

We aimed to estimate clinical and morphological correlations in primary proliferative glomerulonephritis (PPGN), particularly tubulointerstitial changes. For that reason we performed life-time kidney biopsy compared with clinical parameters in 122 patients. In 67 patients we diagnosed mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN) and in 55 mesangiocapillary glomerulonephritis type I (MCGN) with tubulointerstitial component of different levels of expression.
Clinical and morphological correlations demonstrated the active tubulointerstitial changes in PPGN (r = –0.37, р < 0.005) to be associated with decreased urine specific gravity (37 % in MPGN and 73 % in MCGN) (r = –0.53, p < 0.001), leukocyturia (64 % in MPGN and 91 % in MCGN) (r = 0.57, p < 0.001), proteinuria above 1 g/day (moderate and intensive: 42 and 16 % in MPGN, respectively, and 30 and 58 % in MCGN, respectively) (r = 0.48, p < 0.05), decreased glomerular filtration rate (GFR) (r = –0.69, p < 0.001). Chronic tubulointerstitial changes in PPGN correlated with proteinuria level more than 2.5 g/l (r = 0.5, p < 0.001) and GFR less than 60 ml/min (21 and 42 % in MPGN and MCGN, respectively) (r = –0.65, p < 0.001).