title: Clinical and pathological features of dense deposit disease in Chinese patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Dense deposit disease (DDD) is a rare disease that has no universally effective treatment. Herein we explore the clinical and pathological features of DDD in Chinese patients and the therapeutic effect of Tripterygium wilfordii (TW).
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical and pathological data of 10 Chinese patients with biopsy-proved DDD were collected and analyzed retrospectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The patients consisted of 6 males and 4 females. All of them had heavy proteinuria and microscopic hematuria. Gross hematuria, renal insufficiency, anemia, hypertension and low serum complement 3 (C3) occurred in 3, 3, 5, 6 and 8 cases, respectively. Under light microscopy (LM), 8 cases exhibited membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN). Periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) stain disclosed intense PAS-positive bright ribbon-like thickening of glomerular basement membranes (GBM). Immunofluorescence mainly showed diffuse fine granular and short linear deposition of C3 along the glomerular capillary wall. Under electron microscopy, ribbon-like electrondense intramembranous deposits were identified in the lamina densa of the GBM, along the tubule basement membranes (TBM) and wall of Bowman's capsule. Before admission, 6 cases were treated with prednisone, cyclophosphamide and/or cyclosporin A with no response. Proteinuria in 8 cases who received TW during the course decreased at different degrees.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The clinical and pathological features in DDD patients were various. The effect of TW in patients with DDD merits further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Nephrology, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Nanjing 210002, China.
authors.forename: Jinquan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Chunlei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Yanglin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Caihong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Huiping
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zhihong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000740:Anemia / Q000209:etiology; D050476:Bowman Capsule / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002648:Child; D002681:China; D003176:Complement C3 / Q000172:deficiency / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D050533:Glomerular Basement Membrane / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D015432:Glomerulonephritis, Membranoproliferative / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology*; D006417:Hematuria / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000209:etiology; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000378:metabolism; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000378:metabolism; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000378:metabolism; D007684:Kidney Tubules / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008297:Male; D008517:Phytotherapy; D028321:Plant Preparations / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011507:Proteinuria / Q000209:etiology; D051437:Renal Insufficiency / Q000209:etiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D029757:Tripterygium; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003176:Complement C3; D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D028321:Plant Preparations