Apolipoprotein E is enriched in dense deposits and is a marker for dense deposit disease in C3 glomerulopathy.

C3 glomerulopathy (C3G) is a rare disease resulting from dysregulation of the alternative pathway of complement. C3G includes C3 glomerulonephritis (C3GN) and dense deposit disease (DDD), both of which are characterized by bright glomerular C3 staining on immunofluorescence studies. However, on electron microscopy (EM), DDD is characterized by dense osmiophilic mesangial and intramembranous deposits along the glomerular basement membranes (GBM), while the deposits of C3GN are not dense. Why the deposits appear dense in DDD and not in C3GN is not known.

Source: Kidney International - March 4, 2024 Category: Urology & Nephrology Authors: Benjamin Madden, Raman Deep Singh, Mark Haas, Lilian MP. Palma, Alok Sharma, Maria J. Vargas, LouAnn Gross, Vivian Negron, Torell Nate, M Cristine Charlesworth, Jason D. Theis, Samih H. Nasr, Karl A. Nath, Fernando C. Fervenza, Sanjeev Sethi Tags: clinical investigation Source Type: research