Osmotic nephrosis due to high-dose immunoglobulin therapy containing sucrose (but not with glycine) in a patient with immunoglobulin A nephritis.

Acute renal failure has been described as a complication of immunoglobulin therapy. It is not clear whether the immunoglobulin per se or the sucrose that is used as a stabilizer is the cause. We describe a patient with immunoglobulin A nephropathy who was treated with sucrose-containing immunoglobulin. He developed acute renal failure with osmotic nephrosis found on kidney biopsy. When using a glycine-containing immunoglobulin no acute renal impairment was observed in this patient.