AUTHOR=Wang Yan-Ni , Feng Hao-Yu , Nie Xin , Zhang Ya-Mei , Zou Liang , Li Xia , Yu Xiao-Yong , Zhao Ying-Yong TITLE=Recent Advances in Clinical Diagnosis and Pharmacotherapy Options of Membranous Nephropathy JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology VOLUME=13 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2022.907108 DOI=10.3389/fphar.2022.907108 ISSN=1663-9812 ABSTRACT=
Membranous nephropathy (MN) is the most common cause of nephrotic syndrome among adults, which is the leading glomerular disease that recurs after kidney transplantation. Treatment for MN remained controversial and challenging, partly owing to absence of sensitive and specific biomarkers and effective therapy for prediction and diagnosis of disease activity. MN starts with the formation and deposition of circulating immune complexes on the outer area in the glomerular basement membrane, leading to complement activation. The identification of autoantibodies against the phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R) and thrombospondin type-1 domain-containing protein 7A (THSD7A) antigens illuminated a distinct pathophysiological rationale for MN treatments. Nowadays, detection of serum anti-PLA2R antibodies and deposited glomerular PLA2R antigen can be routinely applied to MN. Anti-PLA2R antibodies exhibited much high specificity and sensitivity. Measurement of PLA2R in immune complex deposition allows for the diagnosis of PLA2R-associated MN in patients with renal biopsies. In the review, we critically summarized newer diagnosis biomarkers including PLA2R and THSD7A tests and novel promising therapies by using traditional Chinese medicines such as