About IgA Nephropathy

This site contains information from government publications about IgA nephropathy that have been reformatted and reorganized. There are numerous links to the original documents.

The goal is to make the information easier to find and to allow the sharing of information between users.

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IgA Nephropathy

IgA nephropathy is a kidney disorder caused by deposits of the protein immunoglobulin A (IgA) inside the glomeruli (filters) within the kidney. These glomeruli (the singular form is glomerulus) normally filter wastes and excess water from the blood and send them to the bladder as urine. The IgA protein prevents this filtering process, leading to blood and protein in the urine and swelling in the hands and feet. This chronic kidney disease may progress over a period of 10 to 20 years. If this disorder leads to end-stage renal disease, the patient must go on dialysis or receive a kidney transplant.

The IgA protein, an antibody, is a normal part of the body's immune system, the system that protects against disease. We do not know what causes IgA deposits in the glomeruli. But, since IgA nephropathy may run in families, genetic factors probably contribute to the disease.

Kidney disease usually cannot be cured. Once the tiny filtering units are damaged, they cannot be repaired. Treatment focuses on slowing the progression of the disease and preventing complications. One complication is high blood pressure, which further damages glomeruli. A class of medicines called ACE inhibitors protects kidney function not only by lowering blood pressure but also by reducing the loss of protein into the urine.

Some patients may benefit from limiting protein in their diet to reduce the buildup of waste in the blood. Patients with IgA nephropathy often have high cholesterol. Reducing cholesterol--through diet, medication, or both--appears to help slow the progression of IgA nephropathy.

Corticosteroids may suppress the production of IgA but can have harmful side effects. In preliminary studies, fish oil supplements containing omega 3 fatty acids also appear to slow the progression of the kidney disease. A new immunosuppressive agent called mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) is also being tested.

source: http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/iganephropathy/index.htm

For More Information IgA Nephropathy

American Kidney Fund
6110 Executive Boulevard, Suite 1010
Rockville, MD 20852
Phone: 1-800-638-8299 or (301) 881-3052
Email: helpline@akfinc.org
Internet: www.kidneyfund.org

IgA Nephropathy Support Network
9 G Street, Apt. B
Turners Falls, MA 01376
Phone: (413) 863-8663

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Health Information Center
P.O. Box 30105
Bethesda, MD 20824-0105
Phone: (301) 592-8573
Email: nhlbIinfo@rover.nhlbi.nih.gov
Internet: www.nhlbi.nih.gov

National Kidney Foundation
30 East 33rd Street
New York, NY 10016
Phone: 1-800-622-9010 or (212) 889-2210
Email: info@kidney.org
Internet: www.kidney.org

Additional Information on IgA Nephropathy

The National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse collects resource information on kidney and urologic diseases for the Combined Health Information Database (CHID). CHID is a database produced by health-related agencies of the Federal Government. This database provides titles, abstracts, and availability information for health information and health education resources.

To provide you with the most up-to-date resources, information specialists at the clearinghouse created an automatic CHID search. To obtain this information, you may view the results of the automatic search on IgA Nephropathy.

If you wish to perform your own search of the database, you may access the CHID Online website and search CHID yourself.

source: http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/iganephropathy/index.htm