[Cytomegalovirus-DNA in serum and renal tissue of patients with IgA nephropathy].

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) has been suspected to be involved in the pathogenesis of IgA nephropathy (IgAN). In this study, IgAN both with and without recurrent gross hematuria (GH), cases of MsPGN, MN were included, 10 cases in each group. Sera were obtained and analyzed for the presence of CMV-DNA with polymerase chain reaction. Renal biopsies of the 20 cases of IgAN were also analyzed for the presence of CMV-DNA with in situ hybridization. The positive rates of serum CMV-DNA were 7/10 in IgAN (GH), 2/10 in IgAN (non-GH), 1/10 in MsPGN and 1/10 in MN. It was much higher in IgAN (GH) than in the other groups. There was only 1 case which showed CMV-DNA in renal tissue in IgAN (GH) and IgAN (non-GH) respectively. The high frequency of CMV-DNA present in the serum but not in the renal tissue of IgAN implicated that there was a close association but not etiological relationship between them.