IgA glomerulonephritis. Mesangial IgA deposition without systemic signs (Berger's disease)

Renal biopsy specimens from 204 patients with glomerulonephritis or nephrotic syndrome have been studied. In ten of the patients not suffering from acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis, systemic lupus erythematosus or Schönlein-Henoch syndrome, diffuse, selective mesangial IgA deposition was observed. Clinically, persistent microscopic haematuria, mild proteinuria and, except in one patient, normal renal function were found. Light microscopically the histological picture was dominated by a diffuse or focal increase in volume of the mesangial matrix, and mild mesangial cell proliferation. Exceptionally, there was also crescent formation. Immunofluorescence revealed large IgA, IgG and C3 deposits, as well as small IgM and fibrinogen deposits in the mesangial glomeruli. The authors' assumption that immunocomplexes containing a secretory component might be implicated in the pathomechanism of Berger's disease, could not be proved.