TITLE:
Correlation between Pathological Staging of Membranous Nephropathy and PLA2R Antigen Expression and Its Predictive Value for Treatment Response
AUTHORS:
Fengling Lu, Wen Huang, Shengxue Liao, Taoxian Yang, Jin Cen
KEYWORDS:
Membranous Nephropathy, Pathological Stage, PLA2R Antigen, Treatment Response, Comorbidity
JOURNAL NAME:
Natural Science,
Vol.18 No.1,
January
22,
2026
ABSTRACT: Objective: To investigate the clinical practice patterns of membranous nephropathy (MN) patients in our center, analyze the distribution of pathological stages and their associations with chronic pathological changes, immunofluorescence characteristics, and comorbidities, and provide a descriptive analysis of PLA2R detection in the very few cases where it was performed. Methods: Clinical data, pathological findings, and PLA2R detection results of 30 MN patients were retrospectively collected. The associations between pathological stages and chronic lesions or immunofluorescence features were analyzed, and the current status of PLA2R detection was described. Results: Among the 30 patients, pathological stages were: stage I, 1 case; stage II, 16 cases; stage III, 9 cases; and class V (lupus), 1 case; secondary MN accounted for 3 cases. The PLA2R detection rate was very low (6.7%, 2/30). Both positive cases were patients with stage III primary MN (positivity rate 22.2%, 2/9), while no positive expression was detected in stage I, II, or secondary MN patients. The later the pathological stage, the higher the incidence of glomerulosclerosis (stage III 77.8% vs stage II 31.3% vs stage I 0%) and moderate-to-severe tubulointerstitial injury (stage III 55.6% vs stage II 18.8% vs stage I 0%), with statistically significant differences (P