The consequences for renal function of the glomerular deposition of PAS positive material in proliferative glomerulopathies. A quantitative study.

15 renal biopsy specimens from patients with mesangial proliferative glomerulopathy (MPGN), 15 from patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN), and 15 from patients with mesangiocapillary glomerulopathy type I (MCGN-I), for whom both light and electron microscopy as well as immunofluorescence microscopy and full clinical data were available, were examined and compared with 15 normal controls. Morphometric investigations were performed by means of a computer image analysis system to evaluate quantitatively the glomerular deposition of PAS positive material in these glomerulopathies, as well as to assay whether this parameter could correlate with the renal function. The morphometric study demonstrated that the mean values of glomerular deposition of PAS positive material (% of total glomerular area) were similar in MPGN, IgAN, and MCGN-I. Although correlations between glomerular deposition of PAS positive material and serum creatinine tended to be positive in MPGN, IgAN and MCGN-I, they were weak and not significant. Thus, the present study could not confirm earlier suggestions concerning a significant correlation between these parameters.