Expression of Phospholipase A2 Receptor in PediatricHepatitis B Virus-Related Membranous Nephropathy

ABSTRACT

Purpose@#Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is among etiologies of secondarymembranousnephropathy (MN) in pediatric patients. We evaluated expressionof phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R), a specific target antigen of primary MN, inpediatric HBV-related MN. @*Methods@#We retrospectively reviewed patients with biopsy-proven HBV-relatedMN from the renal biopsy registry and electronic medical records of SeveranceHospital, Seoul, Korea, from 1993 to 2004. Paraffin-embedded human kidneytissues were retrieved and immunohistochemically stained for PLA2R. @*Results@#Ten pediatric patients with 13 biopsied specimens were reviewed. Thepredominant pathological stage was stage II–III, and second was stage II. Theintensity of staining for IgG was greatest, with less intense staining for IgM, IgA,C3, C4, and C1q. All the patients had angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitorcombined with glucocorticoid, and four patients converted to cyclosporine treatmentfrom glucocorticoid monotherapy. Urinalysis of all the patients normalizedafter variable period. PLA2R staining was demonstrated in the outer glomerulus in3 out of 13 biopsies, 2 of which were obtained from the same patient over a 5-yearinterval. @*Conclusions@#PLA2R was expressed in a small number of cases diagnosed aspediatricHBV-related MN, indicating that some HBV-related MN cases may beprimary MN concurrent with HBV infection.