Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Glomerular disease

Membranous nephropathy and the Henle–Koch postulates

Nature Reviews Nephrology volume 12, pages 447–448 (2016)Cite this article

Subjects

Antibodies against several podocyte antigens have evolved as markers of diagnosis, disease activity, and prognosis in membranous nephropathy, but their pathogenic role remains debated. Detailed work-up of two cases of primary and secondary membranous nephropathy now supports the concept that thrombospondin type-1 domain-containing 7A autoantibodies are pathogenic.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Application of the Henle–Koch postulates in tuberculosis and immune-complex glomerulonephritis.

References

  1. Hoxha, E. et al. A mechanism for cancer-associated membranous nephropathy. N. Engl. J. Med. 374, 1995–1996 (2016).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Tomas, N. M. et al. Autoantibodies against thrombospondin type 1 domain-containing 7A induce membranous nephropathy. J. Clin. Invest. http://dx.doi.org/10.1172/JCI85265 (2016).

  3. Ronco, P. & Debiec, H. Pathophysiological advances in membranous nephropathy: time for a shift in patient's care. Lancet 385, 1983–1992 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Debiec, H. et al. Antenatal membranous glomerulonephritis due to anti-neutral endopeptidase antibodies. N. Engl. J. Med. 346, 2053–2060 (2002).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Debiec, H. et al. Early-childhood membranous nephropathy due to cationic bovine serum albumin. N. Engl. J. Med. 364, 2101–2110 (2011).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Beck, L. H. Jr et al. M-type phospholipase A2 receptor as target antigen in idiopathic membranous nephropathy. N. Engl. J. Med. 361, 11–21 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Tomas, N. M. et al. Thrombospondin type-1 domain-containing 7A in idiopathic membranous nephropathy. N. Engl. J. Med. 371, 2277–2287 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Hoxha, E. et al. Phospholipase A2 receptor autoantibodies and clinical outcome in patients with primary membranous nephropathy. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 25, 1357–1366 (2014).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Pani, A. et al. Glomerular diseases and cancer: evaluation of underlying malignancy. J. Nephrol. 29, 143–152 (2016).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Ronco, P. & Debiec, H. Membranous nephropathy: a fairy tale for immunopathologists, nephrologists and patients. Mol. Immunol. 68, 57–62 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Pierre Ronco, Pierre et Marie Curie University and Tenon Hospital, Paris, for reviewing the manuscript before submission. H.-J.A. is supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 668036 (RELENT). The views expressed here are the responsibility of the author(s) only. The EU Commission takes no responsibility for any use made of the information set out.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Nephrology, Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik IV, Klinikum der Universität München, Ziemssenstrasse 1, Munich, D-80336, Germany

    Hans-Joachim Anders

  2. The Clinical and Research Center Humanitas, via Manzoni 56, Rozzano, Milano, 20089, Italy

    Claudio Ponticelli

Authors
  1. Hans-Joachim Anders
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Claudio Ponticelli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Hans-Joachim Anders or Claudio Ponticelli.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

PowerPoint slides

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Anders, HJ., Ponticelli, C. Membranous nephropathy and the Henle–Koch postulates. Nat Rev Nephrol 12, 447–448 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneph.2016.86

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneph.2016.86

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing