Non-organ specific & organ-specific auto-antibodies in hepatitis-B virus associated glomerulonephropathies

Eighty eight patients of glomerulonephropathies (HBsAg positive 67; HBsAg negative 21) and 88 matched and healthy controls were screened for non-organ specific autoantibodies-ANA, AMA, ASMA and APCA by indirect immunofluorescent technique. The 2.3 per cent positivity in the test group and the 8 per cent positivity in the control group did not suggest the involvement of hepatitis-B virus (HBV), as an influencing or associated agent. When 48 patients with glomerulonephropathies and 23 controls were screened for liver cell membrane (LMA) and renal cell membrane antibodies (RMA) by indirect immunofluorescent technique using isolated rat hepatocytes and renal cells, 79.2 per cent LMA positivity was seen in the HBsAg positive group and 41.7 per cent in the negative group and RMA positivity was 58 per cent in the positive group and 25 per cent in the negative group. Simultaneous positivity for both LMA and RMA was recorded in 50 per cent of the HBsAg positive patients and 15.7 per cent of the negative ones. The results suggest the possibility of an organ specific autoimmune trigger more frequently in HBV associated glomerulonephropathy.