An uncommon glomerular disease in an HIV patient: value of renal biopsy and review of the literature

Renal disease is not uncommon in those infected with HIV. The most common manifestation of HIV in the kidney is HIV-associated nephropathy (HIVAN). Other HIV- and non-HIV-related causes have been described in the literature. Immunotactoid glomerulonephritis (ITG) is a rare disorder found in 0.06% of renal biopsies characterized by organized tubular immune complex deposits, observed more often in Caucasians. ITG tends to occur in an older age group and in some patients has been associated with a hemopoietic malignancy. In this report, we describe a case of ITG occurring in an HIV-positive, hepatitis C (HCV)- and hepatitis B (HBV)-negative female, who presented with microscopic hematuria and proteinuria. A percutaneous kidney biopsy showed diffuse membranous glomerulopathy, with mild mesangial proliferation and segmental sclerosing lesions containing mainly IgG, kappa- and C3-positive deposits. Electron microscopy revealed diffuse subepithelial tubular deposits diagnostic of ITG. Out of 5 reported HIV-positive cases and ITG in the literature, 3 were HCV+, 2 were Caucasian and 3 were African-American (AA) without detectable hematologic malignancy. We report another case of ITG in an HCV- and HBV-negative, AA female.