Skip to main content
NCBI home page
British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.) logoLink to British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.)
. 1987 Jul 11;295(6590):78–80. doi: 10.1136/bmj.295.6590.78

IgA-antigliadin antibodies in IgA mesangial nephropathy (Berger's disease).

A Fornasieri, R A Sinico, P Maldifassi, P Bernasconi, M Vegni, G D'Amico
PMCID: PMC1246960  PMID: 3113643

Abstract

Circulating IgA-antigliadin antibodies were detected with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in four of 121 patients (3%) who had IgA mesangial nephropathy and 14 of 17 children (82%) who had untreated coeliac disease. No positive cases were present in the 54 healthy subjects of the control group. Three patients who had IgA nephropathy and IgA-antigliadin antibodies underwent jejunal biopsy, and two showed mucosal atrophy. In these two patients urinary abnormalities, together with the IgA-antigliadin antibodies, disappeared completely after three months and five months, respectively, of following a gluten free diet. Circulating IgA immune complexes were found in most patients who had coeliac disease and Berger's disease associated with IgA-antigliadin antibodies, suggesting overactivity of the B cells producing IgA in both conditions. By contrast, a circulating IgA rheumatoid factor was detectable in three of the four patients who had IgA nephropathy and asymptomatic coeliac disease but was always absent in children who had coeliac disease but did not show signs of renal disease. These results suggest that a more complex abnormality in the IgA immune response is necessary for renal disease to become manifest in patients who have gluten enteropathy.

Full text

PDF
78

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Coppo R., Basolo B., Martina G., Rollino C., De Marchi M., Giacchino F., Mazzucco G., Messina M., Piccoli G. Circulating immune complexes containing IgA, IgG and IgM in patients with primary IgA nephropathy and with Henoch-Schoenlein nephritis. Correlation with clinical and histologic signs of activity. Clin Nephrol. 1982 Nov;18(5):230–239. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Czerkinsky C., Koopman W. J., Jackson S., Collins J. E., Crago S. S., Schrohenloher R. E., Julian B. A., Galla J. H., Mestecky J. Circulating immune complexes and immunoglobulin A rheumatoid factor in patients with mesangial immunoglobulin A nephropathies. J Clin Invest. 1986 Jun;77(6):1931–1938. doi: 10.1172/JCI112522. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. D'Amico G. Idiopathic IgA mesangial nephropathy. Nephron. 1985;41(1):1–13. doi: 10.1159/000183538. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. D'Amico G., Imbasciati E., Barbiano Di Belgioioso G., Bertoli S., Fogazzi G., Ferrario F., Fellin G., Ragni A., Colasanti G., Minetti L. Idiopathic IgA mesangial nephropathy. Clinical and histological study of 374 patients. Medicine (Baltimore) 1985 Jan;64(1):49–60. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Egido J., Blasco R., Sancho J., Lozano L., Sanchez-Crespo M., Hernando L. Increased rates of polymeric IgA synthesis by circulating lymphoid cells in IgA mesangial glomerulonephritis. Clin Exp Immunol. 1982 Feb;47(2):309–316. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Egido J., Blasco R., Sancho J., Lozano L. T-cell dysfunctions in IgA nephropathy: specific abnormalities in the regulation of IgA synthesis. Clin Immunol Immunopathol. 1983 Feb;26(2):201–212. doi: 10.1016/0090-1229(83)90138-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Emancipator S. N., Gallo G. R., Lamm M. E. Experimental IgA nephropathy induced by oral immunization. J Exp Med. 1983 Feb 1;157(2):572–582. doi: 10.1084/jem.157.2.572. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hall R. P., Stachura I., Cason J., Whiteside T. L., Lawley T. J. IgA-containing circulating immune complexes in patients with igA nephropathy. Am J Med. 1983 Jan;74(1):56–63. doi: 10.1016/0002-9343(83)91118-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hed J., Lieden G., Ottosson E., Ström M., Walan A., Groth O., Sjögren F., Franzen L. IgA anti-gliadin antibodies and jejunal mucosal lesions in healthy blood donors. Lancet. 1986 Jul 26;2(8500):215–215. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(86)92508-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Helin H., Mustonen J., Reunala T., Pasternack A. IgA nephropathy associated with celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 1983 Jun;107(6):324–327. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kendall M. J., Schneider R., Cox P. S., Hawkins C. F. Gluten subfractions in coeliac disease. Lancet. 1972 Nov 18;2(7786):1065–1067. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(72)92344-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Moorthy A. V., Zimmerman S. W., Maxim P. E. Dermatitis herpetiformis and celiac disease: association with glomerulonephritis, hypocomplementia, and circulating immune complexes. JAMA. 1978 May 12;239(19):2019–2020. doi: 10.1001/jama.239.19.2019. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Pereira A. B., Theofilopoulos A. N., Dixon F. J. Detection and partial characterization of circulating immune complexes with solid-phase anti-C3. J Immunol. 1980 Aug;125(2):763–770. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Sinico R. A., Fornasieri A., Oreni N., Benuzzi S., D'Amico G. Polymeric IgA rheumatoid factor in idiopathic IgA mesangial nephropathy (Berger's disease). J Immunol. 1986 Jul 15;137(2):536–541. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Woodroffe A. J., Gormly A. A., McKenzie P. E., Wootton A. M., Thompson A. J., Seymour A. E., Clarkson A. R. Immunologic studies in IgA nephropathy. Kidney Int. 1980 Sep;18(3):366–374. doi: 10.1038/ki.1980.147. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Medical Journal (Clinical research ed.) are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES