Expression changes of nephrin and podocin in patients with membranous nephropathy

Objective:To detect the expression changes of nephrin and podocin in patients with membranous nephropathy(MN),and further to disclose the possible effects of nephrin and podocin in the development of proteinuria in MN. Methodology:Twenty-two patients diagnosed as MN by the renal biopsy,included 15 cases with nephrotic syndrome proteinuria(MN-A) and 7 cases with non-nephrotic syndrome proteinuria(MN-B),were enrolled in this study.5 normal renal samples were regarded as the control group.The clinical parameters including urine routine test,endogenous creatinine clearance rate,serum albumin and quantity of urine protein excretion were collected.The expression of the nephrin and podocin in the glomerular podocyte were examined by immunofluorescence and semi-quantitated by image-analysis system. Results:(1) According to pathological changesof MN,14 cases are in grade II and 8 cases are in grade III.Most of our patients presented IgG and C3 deposition in the glomeruli by immunohistochemistry examination.(2) In control group,the distribution of nephrin and podocin showed a linear pattern along the glomerular basement membrane.While the staining of nephrin and podocin on glomeruli was uneven,and lost of linear pattern with granular pattern in MN group.(3) In MN-A group and MN-B group,the glomerular expression of nephrin and podocin decreased significantly compared with those of control group(P0.05).In MN-A group,the glomerular expression of nephrin and podocin decreased significantly compared with those of MN-B group(P0.05). Conclusion:The dramatic decrease of nephrin and podocin expression might contribute to the development of proteinuria in the patients of MN,which suggesting that nephrin and podocin may be the injury target in MN and implying the roles of nephrin and podocin in the pathogenesis of proteinuric diseases.