According to a recent article, patients diagnosed with minimal change disease are found to have autoantibodies targeting nephrin, which supports previous research.
Minimal Change Disease (MCD)
Minimal change disease is a kidney disorder characterized by damage to the glomerulus. The glomerulus is a network of capillaries in the kidney which serves as the first stage in the filtering process of the blood carried out by the nephron in urine formation. Minimal change disease gets its name because the damage cannot be seen under a regular microscope. It can only be seen under an electron microscope. Minimal change disease, though rare, is the most common cause of nephrotic syndrome in children.
Symptoms:
- Foamy appearance of the urine
- Poor appetite
- Swelling, especially around the eyes, feet, ankles, and abdomen
- Weight gain (from fluid retention)
Research
Andrew J.B. Watts, MB, ChB, and research fellow in the department of pathology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and of Harvard Medical School in Boston, decided to look into nephrin autoantibodies. The known proteinuric effect of anti-nephrin antibodies in rodent models combined with the efficacy of B-cell-targeted therapies in patients led the team to look into the possibility of nephrin autoantibodies being present in MCD patients.
Researchers used the Nephrotic Syndrome Study Network (NEPTUNE) cohort to look at renal biopsies and assess sera from MCD patients. Researchers focused specifically on 41 children and 21 adults from this cohort.
Results
After studying the results, the researchers found that 29% of the NEPTUNE study patients tested positive for autoantibodies against nephrin. There was an equal amount of children and adults who tested positive. Although other patients were found to have nephrin autoantibodies in their systems, there were found significantly less in patients diagnosed with MCD. The results of the study supported the proteinuric effect of anti-nephrin antibodies that were previously found in animal models.
Using the data gathered from this research, medical professionals will be able to better tailor treatments to MCD patients.
