Renal pathology and HIV infection in Thailand

The existence of a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated nephropathy (HIVAN) as a distinct disease entity characterized by glomerulosclerosis is well established in North America and Western Europe. Although the large number of HIV-infected cases overwhelm the Asian countries, no cases of HIVAN are documented in the literature. We studied 26 cases of HIV-infected Thai patients with proteinuria greater than 1.5 g/d of protein during 1995 and 1996. None of the patients were treated with antiretroviral drugs at the time of renal biopsy. Intravenous drug addiction and sexual transmission were risk factors in 11 and 15 patients, respectively. Pathological examinations were performed by light microscopic and immunoperoxidase study. Mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis was found in 17 cases, immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy in 2 cases, and diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis and interstitial nephritis secondary to cryptococcal infection in 2 cases each. One case each had membranous glomerulopathy, membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, and granulomatous interstitial nephritis secondary to tuberculosis. The renal pathological findings of HIVAN with the unique features described in previous literature were not evident in these patients. Although the data in this study are limited to 26 HIV-infected Thai patients, we believe that HIVAN is uncommon in the Asian HIV-infected population.