The Role of Cathepsin D in Pathogenesis of Acute Poststreptococcal Glomerulonephritis

Abstract

Cathepsin D activity has been studied by a fluoremetric assay in the urine of acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritic (APSGN) patients aged from 3 to 14 years and has been found elevated when compared with four groups of controls. This activity cannot be accounted for by erythrocytes and/or leukocytes in the urine of these patients since haematuric and pyuric controls did not exhibit an amount of enzyme activity greater than the normal control group. Cathepsin D activity can be attributed to lysosomal enzymes released from polymorphonuclear leukocytes which are in close contact with glomerular basement membrane. Complement C3 levels in serum and cathepsin D activity in urine of these patients showed no correlation.

Approaching Biomarkers of Membranous Nephropathy from a Murine Model to Human Disease

“…In normal kidneys, this enzyme is preferably expressed in the distal tubular system and the collecting ducts, and its expression is upregulated in chronic renal disease [26]. Morphological, biochemical, and physiological heterogeneity of renal lysosomes has been confirmed in the kidney cortices of GN patients, such as Goodpasture disease and poststreptococcal GN [27, 28]. Changes in lysosome populations in rat kidney cortices induced by passive Heymann nephritis have been observed [29].…”