Association between Mycoplasma penetrans infection and clinicopathology of IgA nephropathy / 中华肾脏病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the association between Mycoplasma penetrans (Mpe) infection and clinicopathology of IgA nephropathy (IgAN). Methods Blood samples of 118 IgAN patients, 90 patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and 89 healthy people were collected. Mpe DNA in serum was detected by PCR and positive samples were confirmed by Southern blotting. According to Mpe infection, IgAN patients were divided into positive and negative groups. Association between clinicopatholgical features of IgAN and Mpe infection was examined.Results Significantly higher Mpe positive rate was found in IgAN group as compared to CKD and healthy groups (16.0% vs 2.2% and 1.1%, P＜0.01). In Mpe positive group, 42.1% patients presented macroscopic hematuria, which was significantly higher than that in Mpe negative group (P＜0.01). While Mpe negative group had greater proteinuria, higher serum creatinine level, higher Lee grading of pathology compared to Mpe positive group. There were no differences of tubulointerstitial lesions and arteriole hypertrophy between two groups. Conclusions IgAN patients have higher Mpe infection rate than CKD patients and healthy people. Mpe positive IgAN patients have more macroscopic hematuria. Mpe infection may be associated with the pathogenesis of IgAN.