Membranous Nephropathy (MN) Samples

Bay Biosciences provides high-quality biopsy tissue samples, formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks, with matched fresh frozen sera (serum), plasma, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) bio-fluids, from patients diagnosed with membranous nephropathy (MN).

Moreover, the serum, plasma and PBMCs are processed from patients peripheral whole-blood using customized collection and processing protocols from membranous nephropathy (MN).

Furthermore, fresh frozen tissue and matched biofluid samples were, collected from unique patients diagnosed with membranous nephropathy (MN). Bio-samples are provided to a valued pharmaceutical customer for research, discovery, and drug development.

Membranous Nephropathy (MN) Overview

Membranous nephropathy (MN), also called membranous glomerulonephritis, is a rare kidney disease that affects the filters, or glomeruli, of the kidneys. These filters usually help remove waste and fluids.

However, when the glomeruli become inflamed, the kidneys may swell and stop working properly. Consequently, the filters can fail to keep protein out of the urine, which can lead to problems in other body functions. Additionally, the symptoms of this condition are known as nephrotic syndrome.

Moreover, membranous nephropathy (MN) is an autoimmune disease, and it is chronic. Nevertheless, it is also rare: about 8 to 10 cases per million patients are diagnosed with this disease. Importantly, MN is the most common cause of nephrotic syndrome in non-diabetic Caucasian adults over 40 years of age.

Furthermore, anyone can get membranous nephropathy, but it’s more common in older Caucasian men. In contrast, children rarely develop this kidney condition, and it’s less common in women.

Ultimately, fifty percent of patients diagnosed with primary MN continue to have nephrotic syndrome, and furthermore, 30% of patients may progress to end-stage renal disease over 10 years.

Disease Onset Age

In fact, disease onset is typically between 50-60 years of age, presenting with either nephrotic syndrome (edema with confirmed proteinuria, hypoalbuminemia, and hyperlipidemia) or nephrotic-range or sub-nephrotic proteinuria.

Moreover, renal function is typically normal at presentation. Consequently, disease progression is gradual and, occasionally, complicated by thrombo-embolic events. Additionally, hematuria, hypertension, and reduced glomerular filtration rate can present initially or develop during the disease course.

Furthermore, end stage renal disease (ESRD) develops in up to a third of patients 10 years after disease onset.

Interestingly, MN is an autoimmune disease limited to the kidney. Notably, antibodies to the podocyte antigen m-type phospholipase receptor (PLA2R) are detectable in approximately 70% of patients, while antibodies against thrombospondin type-1 domain-containing 7A (THSD7A) are found in approximately 3% of patients.

In addition, the pathophysiology of antibody formation is unclear. However, a genetic predisposition and associations with HLA genes and with polymorphisms in the PLA2R gene have been found.

Types of Membranous Nephropathy (MN)

There are two types of membranous nephropathy (MN):

  • First, Primary Membranous Nephropathy: This type happens by itself and directly involves the kidneys. You may hear this type referred to as idiopathic.
  • Second, Secondary Membranous Nephropathy: This type happens when you have some other bodily problem that has affected your kidneys.

Causes of Membranous Nephropathy (MN)

The glomeruli have a layer of tissue, or membrane, that helps filter waste and fluid from the blood. Membranous nephropathy is caused by a thickening of this membrane.‌
Exact causes of why this thickening happens is not clear, but it is caused by immune cells. In primary membranous nephropathy, the body makes antibodies, or protective proteins, that target proteins for the kidneys. This leads to a deposit of immune cells in the kidney filters that cause inflammation and thickening. The thickening stops your kidneys from working, which causes you to lose a lot of protein through the urine. 

Secondary membranous nephropathy is caused by other health problems or treatments that affect the kidneys. These can include the following:

Signs and Symptoms of Membranous Nephropathy (MN)

Symptoms of membranous nephropathy can be different for everyone. Following are some are the common symptoms of MN:

Swelling is often the first thing MN patients notice. It usually starts in the feet, ankles, and legs and then moves to the rest of the body. ‌The loss of protein causes swelling. As you lose protein, fluid leaks out of the blood vessels into the tissues, which causes fluid buildup. Sometimes fluid can gather in the lungs, which might make it hard for the patient to breathe.

Diagnosis of Membranous Nephropathy (MN)

Your doctor will do a physical exam and run some tests. ‌If you have any symptoms of nephrotic syndrome (protein in your urine with swelling or decreased kidney function), you will be referred to a nephrologist.

A nephrologist is a doctor who specializes in diseases and conditions of the kidneys. Your nephrologist will use several tests to confirm an MN diagnosis.

These tests can include:

  • Urine Tests: Urine tests will check to see how well your kidneys are working. This test will look for levels of:
    • Albumin
    • Creatinine
    • Protein
    • Sediment
  • Blood Tests: Blood tests are used to look for antibodies and other conditions. Doctors might order a patients blood test to check for infections and for levels of: 
    • Blood protein
    • Lipids
    • Blood albumin 
    • Cryoglobulin
    • Blood urea nitrogen
    • Creatinine levels
    • Other markers
  • Imaging Tests: The doctor might do a CT (computed tomography) scan, or an ultrasound, or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) to look at the patients kidneys. This will help find any damage and rule out other possibilities.

 

  • Kidney Biopsy: A doctor will perform a biopsy procedure to take a small piece of your kidney tissue. They will examine the cells and confirm the diagnosis.

Diagnostic Methods

Typically, the final diagnosis of membranous nephropathy (MN) is made on kidney biopsy. Diagnostic features include capillary wall thickening, normal cellularity, IgG and C3 along capillary walls on immunofluorescence, and sub-epithelial deposits on electron microscopy. However, a diagnosis of MN is strongly suspected on detection of circulating anti-phospholipase A2 receptor (Anti-PLA2R) antibodies.

Treatment of Membranous Nephropathy (MN)

There is no cure for membranous nephropathy. The doctors will focus on treating and managing the symptoms and making the patients immune system stronger. Treatment for MN also depends on the type and cause of the disease.

Doctors may prescribe the following medications for the treatment of membranous nephropathy:

  • ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) inhibitors:  Drugs that manage high blood pressure, lower urine protein levels and help reduce inflammation in the kidneys.
  • ARBs (angiotensin receptor blockers):  ARBs are also known as angiotensin II receptor antagonists, these are used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure and chronic kidney disease.
  • Blood Thinners: These are used in patients who have high risk of blood clots.
  • Diuretics: These are medicines that remove excess fluids from the body and help lower the blood pressure.
  • Low-Salt Diet: Your doctor will recommend reducing salt intake to reduce edema.
  • Statins (cholesterol-lowering medications): These drugs help MN patients reduce the elevated cholesterol levels. 

Proteinuria

If any of the previously mentioned factors are present or the proteinuria does not decline during the observation period, your nephrologist will likely use immunosuppressive therapy.

  • Immunosuppressive therapy: Drugs to stop the immune system from producing the antibody that attacks the kidneys, including:

In some patients with secondary MN, treating the underlying condition may stop kidney damage from further progressing.

Your doctor might also recommend lifestyle changes and vitamin supplements. These include:‌

  • Calcium supplement
  • Low salt diet
  • Vitamin D supplement
  • Low protein diet
If you have chronic membranous nephropathy that doesn’t respond to treatment or that causes lots of damage, your doctor might recommend a kidney transplant.
For most MN patients, the goal is to control symptoms and slow down the disease. Some patients will respond well to conservative treatment. Up to one-third of patients see their symptoms stop (go into remission) within five years even without immune system treatment.

Complications of Membranous Nephropathy (MN)

Complications and health issues in patients with membranous nephropathy (MN) can include the following:

  • High cholesterol (higher than average levels of fat in the blood)
  • Kidney failure
  • Severe swelling (called nephrotic syndrome)

Additional complications that can happen due to MN can include:

  • Deep vein thrombosis(DVT)/pulmonary embolism (PE): Blood clot in the legs or the lungs.
  • Renal vein thrombosis: Blood clot in the renal vein in the kidney.

Pulmonary embolism and renal vein thrombosis can be life-threatening complications that could require emergency medical treatment. Symptoms of each condition can include the following:

  • Firstly, Pulmonary embolism: Sharp chest pain that is worse when you take a breath
  • Secondly, Deep vein thrombosis: Pain or swelling in one leg
  • Finally, Renal vein thrombosis: Pain on the side of your torso and/or blood in the urine

Prevention of Membranous Nephropathy (MN)

For most cases of membranous nephropathy, there is not anything that can be done to prevent it since it is an autoimmune process. For those cases caused by other disease, treating and controlling those diseases may help reduce complications from them, such as MN.

Outlook of Membranous Nephropathy (MN)

The prognosis for membranous nephropathy (MN) varies depending on the patient. In some cases, the disease goes away on its own without treatment. For others the disorder can continue for many years without getting worse.

Some patients with membranous nephropathy (MN) end up with kidney failure. These type of patients may need a kidney transplant or dialysis, which is a long-term treatment where a machine filters the blood for the kidneys.

Membranous nephropathy (MN) can come back after treatment. Nephrologist’s usually monitor the kidney function regularly to look for signs if the disease has returned or not. This monitoring will allow the doctor to treat the patient  as soon as possible if MN recurs.

A nephrologist may also keep the patient on medication to suppress the immune system for longer periods of time to reduce the chances of a flare-up occurring.

Biospecimens

biospecimens

Bay Biosciences is a global leader in providing researchers with high quality, clinical grade, fully characterized human tissue samples, bio-specimens, and human bio-fluid collections.

Moreover, human biospecimens are available including tumor tissue, serum, plasma and PBMC Samples from most other therapeutic areas.

Furthermore, Bay Biosciences maintains and manages its own biorepository, the human tissue bank (biobank) consisting of thousands of diseased samples (specimens) and likewise normal healthy donors for controls. Additionally, available in all formats and types.

In fact, our biobank procures and stores fully consented, de-identified and institutional review boards (IRB) approved human tissue samples, human biofluids such as serum samples, plasma samples from various diseases and matched controls.

Also, all our human tissue collections, human biospecimens and human biofluids are provided with detailed, samples associated patient’s clinical data.

In fact, this critical patient’s clinical data includes information relating to their past and current disease, treatment history, lifestyle choices, biomarkers, and genetic information.

Additionally, researchers find the patient’s data associated with the human biospecimens extremely valuable and use it to help identify new effective treatments (drug discovery & development) in oncology, as well as in other therapeutic areas and diseases.

Bay Biosciences banks wide variety of human tissue samples and human biological samples, including fresh frozen human biospecimens cryogenically preserved at – 80°C.

For example fresh frozen tissue samples, tumor tissue samples, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE), tissue slides, with matching human bio-fluids, whole blood and blood-derived products such as human serum, human plasma and human PBMCs.

Bay Biosciences is a global leader in collecting and providing human tissue samples according to the specified requirements and customized, tailor-made collection protocols.

Please contact us anytime to discuss your special research projects and customized human tissue sample requirements.

Types of Biospecimens

Bay Biosciences provides human tissue samples (human specimens) and human bio-fluids from diseased and normal healthy donors which includes:

  • Firstly, peripheral whole-blood
  • Secondly, amniotic fluid
  • Thirdly, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL)
  • Next, sputum
  • Also, pleural effusion
  • Moreover, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
  • Likewise, serum (sera)
  • In addition, plasma
  • Moreover, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) 
  • Furthermore, saliva
  • Next, buffy coat
  • Accordingly, urine
  • For example, Stool samples
  • Also, aqueous humor
  • And, vitreous humor
  • Lastly, kidney stones (renal calculi)
  • Finally, other bodily fluids from most diseases including cancer.

Moreover, we can also procure most human biospecimens and human biofluids, special collections and requests for human samples that are difficult to find. All our human tissue samples and human biofluids are procured through IRB-approved clinical protocols and procedures.

In addition to the standard processing protocols, Bay Biosciences can also provide human biofluids such as  human plasma, human serum, and human PBMCs bio-fluid samples using custom processing protocols. you buy donor-specific collections in higher volumes and specified sample aliquots from us in multiple format and sets.

Bay Biosciences also provides human biospecimens from normal healthy donors; volunteers, for controls and clinical research, Contact us Now.