Clinical Information

Fibrillary glomerulonephritis (FGN) is a rare kidney disease with fibrillary deposits in the glomeruli that contain polyclonal IgG and complement, indicating immune complex deposition. Although usually Congo-red negative, recently cases with weak Congo-red positivity have been observed, making the distinction from amyloid more challenging. Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) performed on microdissected glomeruli from patients with FGN demonstrates a unique proteomic profile including the protein DNAJB9 (Mayo Clinic unpublished observations). The presence of DNAJB9 was found to be highly sensitive and specific for FGN, distinguishing it from other glomerular diseases, including amyloid, immunotactoid glomerulopathy, and immune complex-mediated proliferative glomerulonephritis. The presence of DNAJB9, in the appropriate clinical and pathological context, can be useful to establish a diagnosis of FGN.