Targeted urine microscopy in Anderson-Fabry disease: a cheap, sensitive and specific diagnostic technique

Anderson-Fabry disease (AFD) is an X-linked lysosomal storage disorder resulting from the deficiency of trihexosylceramide α-galactosidase (α-Gal A). The diagnosis is often missed or delayed, and specific diagnostic tests (serum α-Gal A activity, genotyping or biopsy) are expensive and not widely available. We evaluated the diagnostic potential of urine microscopy in AFD.

We studied 35 male and female AFD patients across a wide phenotypic spectrum and 21 controls with other renal diseases. Fresh urine sediment was examined under phase-contrast microscopy using polarized light for Maltese cross (MC) particles, anti-CD77 antibody to detect globotriaosylceramide (GL3, the substrate of α-Gal A), and anti-podocalyxin antibody to assess podocyte excretion.

Characteristic MC 2 particles and anti-CD77 binding within vacuolated urinary epithelial cells were both detected in AFD with high sensitivity and specificity (MC 2 detection sensitivity 100%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 85.4-100%, specificity 100%, CI 80.8-100%; anti-CD77-binding sensitivity 97.1%, CI 83.3-99.9, specificity 100%, CI 80.8-100%). Albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio, ACR) correlated with quantitative particle excretion--in low, intermediate and high MC excretors, and median ACR was 1.6, 6.9 and 20.0 mg/μmol, respectively (analysis of variance P = 0.017). Podocyte staining was positive in ~50% of all AFD patients and was similar in those with and without clinical Fabry nephropathy (FN), whether or not treated with enzyme replacement.

Targeted urinary microscopy is a non-invasive, inexpensive, accessible and rapid diagnostic technique, especially applicable where serum α-Gal A activity and genotyping are not affordable or available. As the number of urinary MC 2 particles increases with rising albuminuria, the technique may also be useful in assessing FN burden.