Glomerulonephritis in infections with Yersinia enterocolitica O-serotype 3. I. Evidence for glomerular involvement in acute cases of yersiniosis.

Signs of damage to the glomerular basement membrane appearing as haematuria and proteinuria have been observed in 16 cases of proven acute yersiniosis. The infecting agent was Yersinia enterocolitica serotype O:3 in all. In a few cases a transient deterioration of the renal function was observed. The renal symptoms were not related to the acute febrile state, but seemed to appear about 14 days after the onset of yersiniosis and to be reversible in the observation period. Infection with other microorganisms known as nephritogenic was not found in spite of attempts to do so. Kidney biopsy was performed in one case and immunofluorescence microscopy showed deposits of immunoreactants. Based on these observations we suggest that acute glomerulonephritis can be included in the spectrum of complications of infection with Yersinia enterocolitica serotype O:3. The frequency of complicating glomerulonephritis in yersiniosis could not be estimated from this study.