Comparative studies of clinicopathological findings in patients with adult and juvenile onset of IgA nephropathy

Abstract

Comparative studies of clinicopathological findings were carried out in 89 patients with adult and juvenile onset of IgA nephropathy. Among 89 patients with IgA nephropathy, there were 42 patients with juvenile onset, i.e less than 19 years old, and 47 patients with adult onset, i.e. more than 35 years old. Clinical activities of both groups were examined as follows; urinary protein, mean blood pressure renal function (PSP 15 min, Ccr) and serum IgA (s-IgA). The histology of renal tissues was also examined by light microscopy and immunofluorescence in both groups. The levels of mean blood pressure or s-IgA in patients with adult onset group were significantly higher than those in patients with juvenile onset group (p less than 0.001). The levels of Ccr in patients with adult onset group were markedly decreased. The patients with more than 1.0g/day of proteinuria and more than 110 mmHg of mean blood pressure showed severe proliferative glomerular injuries by light microscopy. It is suggested that the patients with adult onset of IgA nephropathy show severe progressive and/or exacerbating factors during the clinical course.