Idiopathic Membranous Nephropathy (IMN) is a renal-limited autoimmune disease and accounts for approximately 80% of MNs. This study aimed to evaluate the role of circulating Anti-PLA2R and anti-THSD7A autoantibodies in the diagnosis and differentiation between primary and secondary MN. This study was conducted on 58 adult patients with biopsy-proven membranous glomerulopathy (MGN). All were subjected to measurement of Anti-PLA2R1 by an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay and anti-THSD7A was detected by an indirect immunofluorescence assay. Among the 58 patients, 79.3% were diagnosed as IMN, and 20.7% as secondary membranous glomerulopathy (SMN). Among IMN patients, 32 patients (69.6%) showed positive anti-PLA2R1 antibodies, 2 patients (4.3%) were positive for anti-THSD7A antibodies and the remaining 12 patients (26.1%) were negative for both types of antibodies. Patients with SMN were negative for the two antibodies. The IMN patients had lower serum creatinine compared to the SMN patients (P=0.017). In conclusion, the study demonstrates that approximately 70% of patients with idiopathic membranous nephropathy have antibodies against PLA2R indicating that Anti-PLA2R may be fast, easy, relatively sensitive, and non-invasive test for diagnosis of IMN.. |
