Overview of Immunological Response in Urological Membranous Nephropathy: Focus on Cytokine and Treatment Options.

Abstract

Membranous nephropathy (MN) is an autoimmune disease that is caused by the production of autoantibody against glomerular podocyte antigens by immune cells due to the lack of self-tolerance mechanisms. Similar to many autoimmune diseases, the pathogenesis of MN is still vague and many experiments are being conducted to detect the antigens and genetic reasons for MN illness. Recently, new antigens, such as exotosin 1/exotosin 2, neural EGF-like-1, semaphorin 3B, and protocadherin 7 have been identified in MN patients who did not have presence of antiphospholipase A2 receptor antigen. What is more, cytokines, which are molecules that regulate immune responses, have been found to have harmful effects in various autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and MN. The role of cytokines and treatment strategies in MN patients is discussed in this article. As the understanding of the disease improves, targeted therapies that focus on specific antigens or cytokines may be developed to effectively manage MN.