M. Klinger et al., DIFFERENT ERYTHROCYTE AND PLATELET SURFACE ELECTRIC CHARGE IN VARIOUSTYPES OF GLOMERULONEPHRITIS, Nephrology, dialysis, transplantation, 12(4), 1997, pp. 707-712
Background. Some preliminary observations suggest that predisposition
to a particular type of glomerulonephritis (GN) may be connected with
the genetically determined charge of the glomerular capillary wall. A
correlation between erythrocyte surface and the glomerular capillary w
all charges has also been observed. The purpose of this study was to v
erify and extend previous investigations. Therefore we measured erythr
ocyte and platelet surface charge from patients with idiopathic membra
nous and mesangial GN as well as idiopathic membranoproliferative GN a
nd lupus nephrits. Methods, The erythrocyte and platelet surface charg
e was determined by the binding of the cationic dye, alcian blue (AB).
A fresh alcoholic AB solution was made for each experiment, which wer
e run in batches of four, each including cells from a healthy person a
nd from patients each with a different type of GN. Results, In patient
s with idiopathic membranous and membranoproliferative GN, a significa
nt decrease in the erythrocyte and platelet charges was observed irres
pective of their clinical state (remission or nephrotic syndrome). Ery
throcyte charge was decreased despite the normal amount of membranous
sialic acid. In contrast, patients with idiopathic mesangial GN, in co
mplete or partial remission, exhibited normal erythrocyte and platelet
surface charges. Exclusively in this type of GN, the appearance of ne
phrotic proteinuria was associated with a slight decrease, the erythro
cyte charge, which was not statistically significant (P>0.1). A reduct
ion in the negative erythrocyte charge in lupus nephritis was less in
magnitude than in idiopathic membranous or membranoproliferative GN, a
nd occurred independently of the level of daily proteinuria, whereas t
he platelet charge was normal. Conclusion, The decrease of the erythro
cyte and platelet charge in idiopathic membranous and mebranoprolifera
tive GN seems to be a pre-morbid feature.