Membranous glomerulonephritis (MGN) is a specific type of kidney disease, due to the body’s rejection of its own kidney tissue (autoimmune) or due to another cause (such as an infection).
Membranous glomerulonephritis (MGN) is a chronic kidney disease that causes damage to the cluster of blood vessels (glomeruli) in the kidney that filter the blood and begin the process to remove waste and excess fluid from the blood. Once the disease progresses, other areas of the kidney become damaged.
Symptoms of MGN include swelling, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and increased predisposition to blood clots. Over time, usually 10-20 years, some people with MGN proceed to kidney failure and require a kidney transplant.
MGN affects mostly adult, Caucasian men.
Some cases of MGN are associated with secondary conditions such as infections or tumors, adverse reactions to drugs, or poisoning.
However, about 85 percent of MGN cases are caused by the body’s immune system mistakenly attacking healthy kidney tissue, a condition called primary MGN (pMGN), which is one of the leading causes of kidney disease in adults.
The EUROIMMUN Anti- PLA2R IFA blood test detects if a patient has an antibody (a protein molecule the body’s immune system produces) that is specific to pMGN.
Treatment of MGN depends on the underlying cause of the disease