Intraglomerular monocyte infiltration and immune deposits in diffuse lupusglomerulonephritis

Previous studies have suggested that separately, glomerular monocyte (MO) i nfiltration and persistent glomerular immune deposits have opposite prognos tic implications in lupus nephritis (LN). To see whether these pathological variables are inversely related, 37 renal biopsy specimens from 37 patient s with diffuse proliferative LN were assessed histologically for activity i ndex, chronicity index, and mean glomerular deposit score per biopsy (depos it index [DI]); the latter was determined semiquantitatively on a scale of 0 to 4.0, Frozen sections were double immunolabeled for immunoglobulin G (I gG) and CD68, a marker for MOs, For each glomerulus in each biopsy specimen , the number of CD68(+) cells was counted and the amount of IgG scored semi quantitatively on a scale of 0 to 4.0. For each biopsy specimen, the mean n umber of MOs per glomerular cross-section (MO Index [MOI]) was calculated. Linear regression analysis showed a moderately strong inverse correlation b etween individual glomerular IgG deposit score and individual glomerular MO count (r = -0.447; P < 0,0001), a weaker but significant inverse correlati on between DI and MOI (r = -0.350; P = 0.0389), and a positive correlation between the DI determined histologically in each case and the corresponding DI scored on the immunolabeled sections (r = 0.534; P = 0.0105), The resul ts indicate that the amount of glomerular deposit and the extent of glomeru lar MO infiltration are inversely related in LN. (C) 1999 by the National K idney Foundation, Inc.