Immunohistochemical diagnosis of Fabry nephropathy and localisation of globotriaosylceramide deposits in paraffin-embedded kidney tissue sections

Abstract

Fabry disease (FD) is a rare X-linked lysosomal storage disorder of glycosphingolipids, mostly globotriaosylceramide (Gb3). Proteinuric chronic kidney disease develops frequently, and recognition of Fabry nephropathy on a kidney biopsy may be the first clue to the underlying diagnosis. Since the accumulated glycosphingolipids are largely extracted by the paraffin-embedding procedure, the most characteristic feature of Fabry nephropathy on routine light microscopy (LM) is nonspecific cell vacuolization. To test whether residual Gb3 in kidney tissue might be exploited for the specific diagnosis of Fabry nephropathy, paraffin-embedded kidney biopsies of nine FD patients (one boy, four men, four women) and of a female carrier of a mild genetic mutation, with no evidence of Fabry nephropathy, were immunostained with an anti-Gb3 antibody. The adult biopsies were additionally co-stained with a lysosomal marker (anti-lysosomal-associated membrane protein 2 (anti-LAMP2) antibody). The distribution of Gb3 deposits was scored per cell type and compared to the histological scorings of glycosphingolipid inclusions on semi-thin sections. FD patients had residual Gb3 in all types of glomerular, tubular, interstitial and vascular kidney cells. The highest expression of LAMP2 was seen in tubular cells, but there were no meaningful associations between LAMP2 expression and prevalence of Gb3 deposits on different kidney cell types. The histological scorings of glycosphingolipid inclusions were relatively higher than the corresponding immunohistochemical scorings of Gb3 deposits. In the mildly affected female, Gb3 expression was limited to tubular cells, a pattern similar to controls. Gb3 immunostaining allows the specific diagnosis of Fabry nephropathy even in kidney biopsies routinely processed for LM.