Increased intestinal permeability to (51 Cr) EDTA is correlated with IgA immune complex-plasma levels in children with IgA-associated nephropathies.

Intestinal permeability was investigated in 10 normal young adults, in 11 control children and in 9 children presenting with either Berger disease (4 cases) or Henoch-Schönlein nephritis (5 cases), making use of (51 Cr) EDTA as a probe molecule. All subjects exhibited a normal creatinine clearance at the time of testing. After oral administration of (51 Cr) EDTA, 24-hour urine radioactivity was measured and results were expressed in percentage of the oral dose administered. Means and SD were 2.35% +/- 0.77, 2.51% +/- 0.70, and 5.10% +/- 2.35 for normal adults, control children and patients with IgA-associated nephropathies, respectively. The differences of permeability between controls and patients were statistically significant (p less than 0.01). In addition, a significant, direct, linear correlation has been established between the percentage of (51 Cr) EDTA excreted in 24-hour urine and IgA immune complex-plasma levels. Our results therefore support the hypothesis that increased gut permeability could play a role in the pathogenesis of IgA-associated nephropathies.