title: Strong association between membranous nephropathy and hepatitis-B surface antigenaemia in Japanese children.
abstract: Renal histology in 163 Japanese children, aged 3 to 15, with proteinuria and/or haematuria showed that 11 had membranous nephropathy (M.N) and the rest had various other renal diseases. Hepatitis-B-virus surface antigen (HBsAg) was identified, by a reversed passive haemagglutination method, in the serum of all the patients with M.N. but in only 4.6% of the patients with other renal diseases. 6 of the 11 mothers of the children with M.N. were positive for HBsAg, and 1 was positive for antibody to HBsAg (anti-HBs). These findings suggest that M.N. in Japanese children is mainly, if not exclusively, caused by hepatitis-B virus and that in most instances the virus is transmitted from mother to child.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005921:Glomerulonephritis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D007678:Kidney Glomerulus / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens