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Recognizing IgG4-related tubulointerstitial nephritis
Shawna Mann1, Michael A Seidman2, Sean J Barbour3
1Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 2775 Laurel Street, 10th Floor, Vancouver,, BC V5Z 1M9 Canada.
Purpose Of The Review:
Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a systemic fibroinflammatory disorder affecting nearly all organs, including the kidney. Tubulointerstitial nephritis (IgG4-TIN) is the most common form of IgG4-related kidney disease (IgG4-RKD) and is the focus of this concise review.
Objective:
The study aims to describe when IgG4-TIN should be suspected and to summarize the diagnosis, treatment, and natural history of the disease.
Sources Of Information:
Ovid MEDLINE, Google Scholar, and PubMed were searched for full-text English language articles up to January 2016. References included in the manuscript were chosen at the authors' discretion based on their relevance to the subject of the review.
Findings:
IgG4-TIN should be considered in patients presenting with abnormal urinalysis, abnormal kidney function, renal lesions on imaging, and elevated IgG, IgE, or hypocomplementemia. Diagnosis of IgG4-TIN requires a combination of histologic features (plasma cell-enriched TIN with >10 IgG4+ plasma cells/hpf, +/- TBM immune complex deposits in many cases) and at least one of the following:Characteristic radiologic findings (small peripheral low-attenuation cortical nodules, round or wedge-shaped lesions, or diffuse patchy involvement)Elevated serum IgG4 levelCharacteristic findings of IgG4-RD in other organs Other conditions such as lupus, vasculitis, diabetic nephropathy, and lymphoma must be excluded, as these can also present with IgG4+ plasma cells in the renal parenchyma. IgG4-TIN is generally responsive to steroids and B cell depletion with rituximab, but relapses are common and patients require close long-term follow-up.
Limitations:
Available data on IgG4-TIN are from retrospective observational studies.
Implications:
IgG4-TIN is a distinct and emerging subtype of interstitial nephritis. Nephrologists must be aware of this entity and how to definitively diagnose and treat it. Prospective studies and ideally multi-center clinical trials are needed to study the epidemiology, treatment, and natural history of this disease.
