Glomerulonephritis in Leprosy
- 1 September 1981
- journal article
- case report
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in American Journal of Clinical Pathology
- Vol. 76 (3) , 321-329
- https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcp/76.3.321
Abstract
A renal biopsy from a patient with lepromatous leprosy but no history of erythrema nodosum leprosum (ENL) showed histologic, immunofluorescent, and ultrastructural features typical of immune-complex glomerulonephritis. A literature review found reports of 187 renal biopsies from leprosy patients, with glomerulonephritis in 31% of the cases, and a variety of other renal lesions. This accumulated evidence demonstrates that, contrary to widely held opinion, there is no association between glomerulonephritis and a history of ENL. Furthermore, it suggests that glomerulonephritis in leprosy patients has a similar incidence in lepromatous and non-lepromatous cases. These observations have an important bearing on concepts regarding the pathogenesis of immune complex glomerulonephritis in leprosy and the humoral immune mechanisms in patients with leprosy.Keywords
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