title: Potential of renal pathology on refining syndrome typing of Chinese medicine in IgA nephropathy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the potential of renal pathological index as a differential diagnosis factor for Chinese medicine (CM) syndromes typing in IgA nephropathy (IgAN).
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1,016 patients with IgAN was recruited from November 2001 to November 2004. All the signs and symptoms including picture of the tongue and pulse tracings were collected. All patients were typed according to the CM syndrome typing scheme for chronic primary glomerulopathy. The severity of glomerulus and tubulointerstitial lesions (mild, moderate-severe) were evaluated using lee's grading system and the Katafuchi score system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The syndrome types transform in turn by deficiency of both the Spleen (Pi) and Lung (Fei) qi, deficiency of both qi and yin, deficiency of Liver (Gan) and Kidney (Shen) yin and deficiency of Spleen-Kidney (Shen) yang, with the aggravation of pathogenetic condition and that the manifestation of deficiency of qi clinically showed proliferative lesion of glomerular mesangium, while the glomerular sclerosis pathologically showed the manifestation of yin deficiency.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Renal pathological findings may be a candidate of objective factors to refine CM syndrome typing process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnosis of Chinese Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China. ljjhebei@126.com
authors.forename: Jian-Jun
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xiang-Mei
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ri-Bao
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Wei
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005922:Glomerulonephritis, IGA / Q000145:classification* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology*; D007678:Kidney Glomerulus / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D008875:Middle Aged; D012077:Renal Artery / Q000473:pathology; D013577:Syndrome; D055815:Young Adult