title: Exposure to hydrocarbons and rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis.
abstract: 1. A case-control study of the relationship between the regular exposure to hydrocarbons and rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (GN) was carried out in São Paulo, Brazil. Regular exposure was defined as 1 h or more weekly for 3 consecutive months or longer. We studied 17 patients with rapidly progressive renal failure and biopsy-proven crescentic GN and 34 matched hospital controls. 2. We found an increased risk of rapidly progressive GN associated with exposure to organic solvents (relative risk = 5.00; 95% confidence interval = 1.14 to 22.00). The frequency of exposure to solvents was 52.9% among the patients and 17.7% among the control subjects (P less than 0.05). However, no statistically significant increased risk was detected in those patients who had been exposed to fuels (relative risk = 3.25; 95% confidence interval = 0.76 to 13.89); the proportion of exposure to fuels was 47.1% among the patients and 20.6% among the control subjects. 3. Renal histologic findings suggest that immune complex mediated injury as well as a direct glomerular toxic effect may participate in the pathogenesis of rapidly progressive GN associated with hydrocarbon exposure.
authors.affiliation: Escola Paulista de Medicina, São Paulo, Brasil.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sesso
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Stolley
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Salgado
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: O L
authors.initials: OL
authors.lastname: Ramos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D005921:Glomerulonephritis / Q000139:chemically induced*; D006801:Humans; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000009:adverse effects*; D007678:Kidney Glomerulus / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008875:Middle Aged; D012997:Solvents / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D006838:Hydrocarbons; D012997:Solvents