Abstract:

Abstract Idiopathic membranous nephropathy（IMN）is a glomerulopathy characterized by immune complex deposit on the epithelial side of glomerular capillary wall with elusive etiology. The discovery of serum anti-PLA2R antibody was a landmark breakthrough in the understanding of IMN pathogenesis and made great contribution to IMN diagnosis, prognosis prediction and disease activity surveillance. GWAS study found SNP in HLA-DQA1 and PLA2R1 gene locus related to susceptibility of IMN, indicating a genetic background of IMN. Recent study has also identified dominant epitope of PLA2R. This review focused on the main discoveries and current knowledge of PLA2R and IMN.

Key words: membranous nephropathy, idiopathic, phospholipase A2 receptor