A quantitative light- and electron-microscopic study of type IV nuclear bodies in crescentic glomerulonephritis.

Type IV nuclear bodies were found in all renal biopsies obtained from 14 patients with crescentic glomerulonephritis (CGN) and in 8 of 43 control patients studied by light and electron microscopy. The mean ratio of Type IV nuclear bodies per 10 tubular cross-sections examined was 0.67 +/- 0.27 for the CGN cases, which was significantly different from 0.09 +/- 0.26 obtained for the controls (P less than 0.05). Type IV nuclear bodies were most commonly seen in the epithelial cells of proximal tubules but were also seen occasionally in interstitial fibroblasts and cells of a collecting duct and a developing crescent.