
- Published: June 21, 2019
- By: Tiffany Caza, MD
- Tags: afferent arteriole, Diabetic glomerulopathy, Diabetic nephropathy, Proteinuria, RPS diabetic classification, SGLT-2
The above painting shows glomeruli with nodular mesangial expansion and arterial hyalinosis, changes frequently seen in diabetic nephropathy. Diabetic nephropathy is graded by the classification system established by the Renal Pathology Society to separate lesions into varying degrees of severity. In class I diabetic glomerulopathy, there are no changes identified by light microscopy, but thickening of the glomerular basement membranes are seen on electron microscopy (see photomicrograph below). Thickened glomerular basement membranes are greater than 471 nm in women or 520 nm in men (in our lab), which represents greater than 2 standard deviations above the normal population. Glomerular basement...