SM 205a/208a/209a/212a - Renal Syndromes, Nephrosis, Nephritis Flashcards
Characteristic of nephritic or nephrotic syndrome?
WBC casts
Neither
Interstitial cause likely
Which infections are patients with minimal change disease susceptible to?
Why?
Pneumococcal infections
Immune dysfunction due to loss of factors in the urine
- Opsonizing factors
- IgG
- Lower antibody titers
Kimmelsteiel-Wilson nodules are pathopneumonic for which renal syndrome?
Diabetic nephropathy
What conditions might FSGS be secondary to?
HIV + Heroine use
Reduced renal mass
Hyperfiltration injury
Obesity
What pathologic findings are present?
Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis
Not all glomeruli show sclerosis (focal)
Only parts of the affected glomeruli are affected (segmental)
How does sepsis affect glomerular macromolecule handling?
Sepsis -> Podocyte dysfunction
- Alters slit diaphragm structure and function
- More proteinuria
What is the treatment for minimal change disease?
What should you consider if there is no response?
Steroids
If no response, consider FSGS
If initial response but frequent relapse, try steroid-sparing immunosuppressive agents
Characteristic of nephritis or nephrosis?
Low serium albumin
Nephrosis
What are the differences in the presentation of IgA nephropathy and PIGN?
-
Timing
- IgA nephropathy is synpharyngitic and recurrent
- Occurs at the same time or soon after URI or sore throat
- Patient may report that they have had other episodes of hematuria throughout their lives
- PIGN occurs after infection (7-14 days), and is not recurrent
- IgA nephropathy is synpharyngitic and recurrent
-
Biopsy
- IgA nephropathy shows mesangial deposits
- LM: Mesangial proliferation
- FM: Granular mesangial deposits
- EM: Mesangial deposits
- PIGN shows granular deposits
- LM: Hypercellularity
- FM: Starry sky
- EM: Sub-epithelial humps
- IgA nephropathy shows mesangial deposits
What levels of proteinuria qualify as “nephrotic range?”
- Adults: 3 gm/day
- Children: 50 mg/kg/day
- Urine Prot: Urine Creatinine > 2
What is “nephrotic-range proteinuria?”
Proteinuria >2.5 - 3 grams/day
Can use (urine protein / urine creatinine) = grams of protein/day
as a proxy for 24h urine collection
IgA nephropathy is especially common in which populations?
Asians, especially people of Japanese descent
Which patients with suspected nephrotic syndrome are not routinely biopsied?
Children
If suspicion is high for minimal change disease, treat empirically with corticosteroids
If the patient recovers, it was likely MCD and you avoided doing an invasive procedure :)
Which renal syndromes result from primary glomerular disease?
Membranous nephropathy (nephrotic)
Membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (nephritic)
What is the classic finding for Pauci-Immune Glomerulonephritis?
ANCA
Pauci-Immune = microscopic polyangiitis (p-ANCA) or
granulomatosis with polyangiitis (c-ANCA)
Glomerular handling of macromolecule is dependent on…
Size and charge
Which renal syndrome will show linear IgG deposits on FM?
Anti-GBM disease
(aka RPGN Type I)
A nephritic syndrome
Why is important to identify and treat membranous nephropathy quickly?
To avoid potential complications
- Renal vein thrombosis
- Pulmonary embolism due to hypercoagulability
What renal syndrome shows this pattern on immunofluorescence?
What would you expect from the patient’s history?
- IgA Neprhopathy (nephritic)
- Deposits in the mesangium instead of the basement membane
- We would expect them to be IgA
- History
- Recurrent hematuria (tea/cola colored urine) associated with URI or pharyngitis
- Synpharyngitic - occurs during or very soon after infection
What is the mechanism of hyperlipidemia in nephrotic syndrome?
Multiple potential causes
- Increased hepatic lipoprotein synthesis
- Oncotic/viscosity signal
- May be overlap with albumin synthesis pathway and lipid synthesis pathway
- Defective lipid transport
- HDL lost in urine
- Decreased LPL and LCAT activity
- Albumin binds to the products of cholesterol breakdown
- Loss of albumin = cannot bind to products = le chaltlier towards the reactants
- Decreaed cholesterol breakdown
What is the treatment for lupus nephritis?
Depends on the level of inflammation
- Minimal inflammation
- Focus on treatment of lupus
- Active inflammation
- High-dose steroids + immune-modulating drugs
(important to control inflammation to protect the kidney)
- High-dose steroids + immune-modulating drugs
Which renal syndromes are associated with a history of Hep B and Hep C?
- Nephrotic
- Membranous nephropathy
- Nephriti
- MPGN
Apple-green birefringensce in polarized light on a congo-red stain is characteristic of what pathologic finding?
Amyloidosis
The most critical determinant of whether or not a molecule of effective Stokes radius = 40 Å is filtered by the glomerulus is:
a. Blood pressure
b. Hydration status
c. The endothelial glycocalyx
d. The lamina densa of the glomerular basement membrane
e. The epithelial slit pore
e. The epithelial slit pore
40 Å is on the larger side of proteins that can be filtered - the large size of this protein matters more than any charge hindrance or hydrostatic forces that typically affect smaller proteins
What are the characteristics of IgA nephropathy on…
LM
FM
EM
IgA nephropathy = nephritic
- LM
- Mesangial proliferation (hypercellularity)
- FM
- Granular IgA deposits in the mesangium
- EM
- Mesangial deposits
How is membranous nephropathy treated?
- Secondary: treat underlying cause (if presnt)
- Solid tumor cancer treatment
- Stop medication exposure
- Treat Hep B or Hep C
- Treat Lupus
- Primary: Depends on degree of proteinuria
- Low-level: RAAs blockade, Na+ restriction, diuresis
- High-level: Immune modulation
Characteristic of nephritic or nephrotic syndrome?
Proteinuria >3 grams/day
Neprotic
What defines nephrotic syndrome?
(Classic tetrad)
- Proteinuria
- Hypoalbuminemia
- Edema
- Hypercholesterolemia
What is required for a diagnosis of lupus nephritis?
Kidney biopsy + History of lupus
What are the major nephritic syndromes?
- RPGN
- Type I = anti-GBM disease
- Type II
- Type III = Pauci-Immune disease
- Post-Infectious Glomerulonephritis
- Lupus Nephritis
- IgA Nephropathy
- MPGN
What tubular dysfunctions can cause proteinuria?
- Dent disease
- Disorder of chloride transport, cannot reabsorb protien
- Fanconi syndrome
- Nephropathic cystinosis
- Tubulointerstitial nephritis
- Nephrotoxins
What are the 3 major primary nephrotic syndromes?
Minimal Change Diseae
Focal Segmental Glomerular Sclerosis
Membranous Nephropathy
What are the characteristics of diabetic nephropathy on light microscopy?
Diffuse GBM thickening (leads to proteinuria)
Nodular sclerosis: Kimmelstiel-Wilson nodules
What is the most common cause of nephrotic syndrome in Caucasian adults?
Membranous nephropathy