Background: The collapsing variant of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is the most aggressive form of FSGS and is characterized by at least one glomerulus with segmental or global collapse and overlying podocyte hypertrophy and hyperplasia. Viruses can act as aetiological agents of secondary FSGS. This study aims to establish an aetiological link between dengue virus (DENV) infection and the collapsing variant of FSGS and to analyse possible influences of the apolipoprotein 1 (APOL1) gene risk alleles on the disease.
Methods: Biopsies and medical records were gathered from 700 patients of the Instituto de Nefropatologia, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Screening for the collapsing variant of FSGS was performed and serological, immunohistochemical, tissue polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and genetic analysis were conducted.
Results: Eight patients were identified with positive DENV serology and negative serological and/or tissue markers for hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, Epstein-Barr virus, human immunodeficiency virus, cytomegalovirus and parvovirus B19. In PCR analysis, six patients had positive markers for DENV strain genetic material, one patient had positive markers for co-infection of Zika virus (ZIKV) and DENV and one patient had positive markers only for ZIKV infection. Six of the eight patients did not show risk alleles of the APOL1 gene. One patient had only one risk allele (G1) and the sample from another did not contain enough DNA for genetic analysis to be performed.
Conclusions: This study provided strong evidence that DENV can infect renal tissue and possibly functions as a second hit to the development of the collapsing variant of FSGS. Nonetheless, this study also highlights the possible implication of ZIKV infection in FSGS and supports the argument that risk alleles of the APOL1 gene may not be implicated in the susceptibility to FSGS in these patients.
Keywords: arbovirus; chronic kidney disease; dengue infection; focal segmental glomerulosclerosis; renal histopahology.