Immuno-histochemistry analysis of Helicobacter pylori antigen in renal biopsy specimens from patients with glomerulonephritis.

This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between Helicobacter pylori infection and three varieties of glomerulonephritis. Renal biopsy specimens from patients with Henoch Schonlein Purpura nephritis (HSPN; n = 10), membranous nephropathy (MN; n = 9) and lupus nephritis (LN; n = 27) were studied using immuno-histochemical labeling to clarify the etiological significance of H. pylori antigen in this disease. Immuno-histochemical labeling was performed using a mixture of anti-H. pylori-antibody-positive serum from nine volunteers; a mixture of anti-H. pylori-antibody-negative serum from nine volunteers was used as control. Staphylococci protein-A labeled by horseradish peroxidase was used as the second antibody in this study. A total of 34 of the 48 specimens revealed positive reaction with the anti-H. pylori-positive serum and five of the 48 specimens revealed positive reaction with the anti-H. pylori-negative serum. Positive reaction against anti-H. pylori-positive serum was seen in 10/10 patients with HSPN, six of nine patients with MN and 18/27 patients with LN. Statistical analysis showed that the difference of the positive reaction between anti-H. pylori-positive and negative sera was significant (χ 2 = 36.318, P = 0.000). Our study indicates that H. pylori infection may be associated with the development and/or progression of HSPN, MN and LN.