Detection of monocytes and evaluation of their role in human glomerular pathology: the contribution of electron microscopy.
The potentialities of electron microscopy in detecting monocytes in human glomeruli are discussed and its reliability is compared with that of other techniques (such as enzyme histochemistry and immunohistochemistry) having the same purposes. The major advantages of electron microscopy are: the same material can be used for both monocyte detection and conventional diagnostic purposes; its high resolution power allows for information on the site of monocyte infiltration and clarification of some functions of the latter (such as the phagocytic activity on immune complexes or their participation to the basement membrane damage). Nevertheless, the suggested technique also has some disadvantages, in particular it permits to investigate only a small number of glomeruli and it creates difficulties in the identification of nonstimulated monocytes.
D005921:Glomerulonephritis / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007678:Kidney Glomerulus / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009000:Monocytes / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure