IgA Nephropathy Relapse and Transplanted Kidney

Some researches show that the reoccurence rate of IgA Nephropathy to transplanted kidney varies from 50% to 80% cases. The disease can return even several years or even days. Why is the reoccurence rate so high? Is there alternative treatment to Kidney Transplant?

Causes of IgA Nephropathy reoccurence after Kidney Transplant

IgA Nephropathy is an autoimmune disorder, in which the patients' immune system attacks the healthy tissues and cells.

In normal case, when the foreign pathological stuffs(antigens) invade into body, the relative antibodies are activated by immune system to defeat them. The immune complexes of antigens and antibodies will be discharged out of body through systemic circulation.

However, when immune system is activated improperly, the immune complexes will build up in blood. As there are binding epitopes for the immune complexes, they will flow into kidneys and deposit there. The body mounts an inflammatory response to remove these foreign harmful substances, resulting in damage to glomeruli( filters) in kidneys. Afterwards, a series of symptoms occur such as proteinuria, hematuria etc.

In Kidney Transplant, although the diseased kidney is replaced by a healthy kidney, the patients' immune system is not regulated yet. Therefore, the patients' immune system may attack the transplanted kidney again, triggering the reoccurence of IgA Nephropathy.

Alternative treatment to Kidney Transplant for IgA Nephropathy

Immunotherapy is a new and alternative therapy for IgA Nephropathy other than kidney transplant.

Immunotherapy refers to a therapy that treats disease by suppressing, enhancing or inducing an immune response. It plays the following roles in treating IgA Nephropathy.

① Immunotherapy can remove the immune complexes in blood and kidneys. Hence, it can stop the immune injury to kidney tissues and cells immediately.

② It can regulate patients' immune system and stop excessive production of pathological antibodies. Therefore, it can prevent the formation of immune complexes.

③ It aims at eliminating the symptoms of IgA Nephropathy by restoring the impaired kidney tissues and cells..