The glomerular mesangium in hypertension: a morphometrical comparison of nephrosclerosis with mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritis on renal biopsies.

Glomerular changes were morphometrically studied in renal biopsies of 27 cases of nephrosclerosis showing clinically benign or malignant hypertension and of 15 cases of mild mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritis with hypertension. In nephrosclerosis, there was a mild increase in mesangial matrix without cell proliferation. The degree of the mesangial changes varied little despite a large variation in blood pressure and showed no significant difference between benign and malignant hypertension. In mild mesangioproliferative nephritis with hypertension, mesangial matrix, as well as the number of mesangial cells, showed an increase of varying degree. A quantitative assessment of the mesangium was proved effective in differentiating the glomerular changes in nephrosclerosis from those in mesangioproliferative nephritis with hypertension.