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Tissue‐type plasminogen activator and its inhibitor in human glomerulonephritis
Author(s) -
Aya Naofumi,
Yoshioka Kazuo,
Murakami Katsumi,
Hino Satoshi,
Okada Kiyotaka,
Matsuo Osamu,
Maki Sunao
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
the journal of pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.964
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1096-9896
pISSN - 0022-3417
DOI - 10.1002/path.1711660312
Subject(s) - plasminogen activator , fibrin , glomerulonephritis , pathology , lupus nephritis , staining , nephritis , immunohistochemistry , chemistry , kidney , urokinase , nephrotic syndrome , biology , medicine , endocrinology , immunology , disease
We carried out an immunohistochemical study of tissue‐type plasminogen activator (PA) and urokinase‐type PA, and their inhibitors, PA inhibitor‐1 and PA inhibitor‐2, using renal biopsy specimens obtained from 86 patients with various forms of glomerulonephritis. The controls were four normal renal tissue specimens. On immunofluorescent observation, granular staining for tissue‐type PA was found to be distributed along the glomerular capillary walls. The fluorescence was weak in the normal renal tissue and occasionally intense in the tissues of patients with IgA nephritis, minimal change nephrotic syndrome, and lupus nephritis. PA inhibitor‐1 was abundant in the glomerular epithelial cells and scarce in the mesangial area and glomerular capillary lumens of the normal renal tissues. This was confirmed by immunoelectron micrscopy using gold staining. The fluorescence of PA inhibitor‐1 was weaker in some specimens of nephritic tissues than in the normal renal tissues. Urokinase‐type PA and PA inhibitor‐2 were negative within the glomeruli in all the specimens. In the glomerulonephritic tissues which were fibrin deposition‐positive, tissue‐type PA expression in the glomeruli tended to be strong. An association between fibrin deposition and PA inhibitor‐1 staining was not clear. These data suggest that expression of tissue‐type PA in the glomeruli increases in association with fibrin deposition.