We report an 8-year-old girl with lipoprotein glomerulopathy who may have developed this condition as young as 4 years of age. To our knowledge this is the youngest reported case of this disease. Lipid studies of the patient and her family members revealed elevated concentrations of apolipoprotein E (apo E), the apo E phenotype E2/3, and the genotype E3/3. However, other families revealed no urinary abnormalities. Our findings suggest that an apo E abnormality may be responsible for the development of lipoprotein glomerulopathy. Genetic analysis of apo E is needed to clarify the pathogenesis.
Gold surfaces were modified by benzyl-mercaptan (BM) and then partly replaced with benzenethiol (BT), which formed binary self-assembled monolayers (SAM). Initially BT randomly replaced BM in the monolayer, but at long exchange times >15 nm radius domains were observed with specific relative composition of BT and BM.
In order to analyze urinary proteins from patients with various renal diseases, a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with IPG PACK ODS column packed with polyporous glass was employed. The peak areas of α1-acid glycoprotein (α1-AGP), β2-microglobulin (β2-MG) and albumin were measured by a chromato-integrator. The α1-AGP/albumin ratio was regarded as the marker of glomerular damage, while the β2-MG/albumin ratio indicated tubular dysfunction. As a result, the α1-AGP/albumin ratio in the urine from patients with either various glomerulonephritis (GN) or idiopathic nephrotic syndrome was significantly higher than that from either patients with postural proteinuria or healthy children. However, the β2-MG/albumin ratio in the urine from patients with GN was the same level as controls. The β2-MG/albumin ratio was elevated only in urine from patients with tubular dysfunctions. These data suggest that the urinary α1-AGP/albumin ratio could be a beneficial indicator in locating patients with GN from among children with asymptomatic proteinuria.
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