Immunity of tonsil and IgA nephropathy – relationship between IgA nephropathy and tonsillitis

Our study hypothesized that cytokines or chemokines induced in tonsils by infectious stimulations play an important role on the exacerbation of the glomerular injuries in patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN). Tonsils from six patients with IgAN diagnosed by renal biopsy were studied after getting their written informed consents Tonsils from six patients with tonsil disorders with non-renal disorders were examined as controls. Tonsillar mononuclear cells (TMCs) were isolated and resuspended with RPMI 1640 with 10% FCS. These cells were incubated for 48 h with staphlococcus enterotoxin-B (SEB) or lipopolysaccaride (LPS). The levels of IL-6, IL-8, IL-12 and MCP-1 in the supernatants were measured by solid-phase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. The actual cytokine concentrations were calculated by determining the standard curves. The experiments were performed in duplicate, and the mean value was calculated. We found that tonsillar mononuclear cells of IgA nephropathy produced mesangial proliferative chemokines (MCP-1, IL-8) in higher amounts compared to tonsils from non-IgA nephropathy. This result suggests that upper respiratory tract infections such as tonsillitis may be one of the risk factors of the aggravation in patients with IgA nephropathy.