Deterioration of urinary findings after tonsil stimulation in patients with IgA nephropathy

We studied whether urinary findings are affected by stimulation of tonsils in patients with IgA nephropathy. In 62 patients with IgA nephropathy and 20 patients with other renal diseases tonsils were stimulated by an ultra short wave for 10 min. Changes in amount of urinary protein, urinary sediment, blood leucocyte count, concentrations of serum IgA and serum secretory IgA were evaluated after tonsil stimulation. Forty of 62 patients with IgA nephropathy (65%) showed deterioration of urinary findings after the stimulation compared with 6 of 20 patients with other renal diseases (30%). The deterioration was significantly more frequent in IgA nephropathy than in other renal diseases (p <0.005). Previous episodes of gross hematuria following upper respiratory tract infections had occurred in 17 of 40 patients who showed deterioration of urinary findings after tonsil stimulation (43%) as against in 4 of 22 without deterioration (18%). The level of serum secretory IgA was higher in patients who showed deterioration of urinary findings after tonsil stimulation than in those who did not show it. Though tonsil stimulation increased blood leucocyte count it did not affect the concentrations of serum IgA or secretory IgA. It is concluded that tonsil stimulation often deteriorates urinary findings in patients with IgA nephropathy; therefore chronic tonsillitis may play a part in the pathogenesis of IgA nephropathy.