Monocyte Function in Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome in Childhood

WAGA, S., TAKAHASHI, Y., FUJITA, M., NAGATA, K., KURONUMA, T. and AOYAMA, R. Monocyte Function in Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome in Childhood. Tohoku J. exp. Med., 1983, 141 (3), 295-303 - The monocyte function of 112 specimens from 42 children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS) aged from 2 to 17 years was studied by the methods of nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) reduction, phagocytosis of immunobeads (TB) and yeast cells, chemotaxis and acid alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase (ANAE) staining. The dissociation between phagocytosis and chemotaxis was observed in the fresh cases of steroid sensitive INS and in the cases of steroid non-sensitive INS. In the fresh cases of steroid sensitive INS, NBT reduction and phagocytosis were increased, but chemotaxis was decreased. In the cases of steroid non-sensitive INS, the phagocytosis of IB was decreased, but chemotaxis was increased. These findings suggest a different pathogenesis between steroid sensitive and steroid non-sensitive INS. The dissociation between phagocytosis and chemotaxis may be explained by the alteration of the surface receptors of monocyte and by lymphokines.