Relationship Between The Abnormal Homing Of Lymphocytes To Tonsil And Pathogenesis Of IgA Nephropathy

Objective: To investigate the expression of L-selectin, VLA-4α, LFA-1,ICAM-1, VCAM-1 in the tonsil of patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN).Method:We studied the tonsil sample of 10 patients with biopsy-proven IgAN ( IgAN group ), ( 6 male, mean age 24±9) and 10 adults who had chronic tonsilitis without the history of kidney disease ( CT group ), (5 males, mean age 27±12). Western Blot technique was used to analyze L-selectin, VLA-4α, LFA-1, ICAM-1, VCAM-1 expression in the tonsils. Also, using immunohistochemistry (SABC), we observed the expression of homing receptors L-selectin, VLA-4α, LFA-1 in the tonsils. In germinal centers and high endothelial venules (HEV), vascular addressin ( ICAM-1, VCAM-1) was examined in the mean time. All data were fed into a personal computer using SPSS13.0 statistics software.Result:Western-blot showed the statistically enhanced expression of L-selectin, VLA-4α, LFA-1, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 in IgAN group compared with CT group (1.10±0.09 vs 0.80±0.14), (0.39±0.05 vs 0.24±0.04), (0.41±0.06 vs 0.29±0.06), (1.36±0.04 vs 1.18±0.09), (2.56±0.63 vs 1.60±0.32), respectively. On immunohistochemical analysis, changes in homing receptors of the tonsil were statistically significance, and there was the enhanced expression of the vascular addressins to the tonsillar germinal centers and HEV in IgAN group.Conclusion:While suffering from chronic tonsillitis, the patients with IgAN are characteristic of the increased expression of L-selectin, VLA-4α, LFA-1, ICAM-1, VCAM-1 in the tonsils. The pathogenesis of IgAN is closely related to lymphocyte abnormally homing to the tonsil.