November 2018Kidney IntA study on gene susceptibility and its mechanism of primary membranous nephropathy completed by the team of Professor Zhao Minghui, Department of Nephrology, Peking University First Hospital was published in the journal-"Study on the association between human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II gene and clinical phenotype and prognosis of primary membranous nephropathy" [Wang HY, Cui Z, Xie LJ, et al. HLA class II alleles differing by a single amino acid associate with clinical phenotype and outcome in patients with primary membranous nephropathy. Kidney Int, 2018, 94 (5): 974-982.]. A review by Professor Salant, a nephrologist at Boston University in the United States, was also issued[1]。 Through the analysis of the association between HLA genotype and clinical phenotype and renal prognosis of primary membranous nephropathy, it was found that HLA-DRB1*1502 is a modified gene of membranous nephropathy. Patients with this genotype are more ill and have worse renal prognosis. It indicates that HLA gene not only participates in the pathogenesis of membranous nephropathy, but also affects the clinical phenotype and renal prognosis of patients, which provides new clues for the association study of HLA gene and membranous nephropathy.