June 28, 2018
Light Chain Deposition Disease

- Published: June 28, 2018
- By: Chris Larsen, MD
- Tags: Chronic kidney disease, Kappa, Light chain deposition disease, Monoclonal gammopathy of renal significance, Proteinuria
The immunofluorescence in cases of monoclonal immunoglobulin deposition disease is characterized by linear tubular basement membrane staining. In these cases, the positive staining is restricted to the monoclonal immunoglobulin leading to disease. The photomicrographs here show strong staining for kappa compared to lambda in a case of kappa light chain deposition disease. There is also commonly staining of the interstitium, vessels, and glomeruli. When the monoclonal immunoglobulin is a heavy chain, the immunofluorescence shows strong staining for the depositing heavy chain with little to no staining for either light chain.