Background: Glomerular diseases (GDs) are the third most common cause of chronic kidney disease if not detected and treated at an early stage. It is crucial to be aware of variations in the histological pattern of GD within a specific region, as the disease varies based on geographical location, ethnicity, age, and specific histological characteristics. This study was conducted to analyze Clinical and histopathologic profile of glomerulopathies in the Himalayan Belt of North India. Materials and Methods: The medical records of 169 cases from the Department of Nephrology in Super Speciality Hospital, Government Medical College, Jammu, were retrospectively analyzed over 4 years to review all diagnosed cases of glomerulopathies through histopathology, documenting basic demographic profiles, clinical presentations, relevant investigations, and histopathological classifications of GD for each patient. Results: In our research, males constituted 52.7% and females 47.3%, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.1:1. The average age was 36.17 ± 14.43 years. Systolic blood pressure was 144.22 ± 16.76 mmHg, and diastolic blood pressure was 88.01 ± 7.49 mmHg. Twenty-four-hour Urine protein level was 4.47 ± 2.87 g/day, and serum albumin measured 2.68 ± 0.64 g/dL. Out of 169 biopsies studied, 95 had nephrotic syndrome, 19 had nephritic syndrome, and 55 had nephrotic-nephritic presentation. We found that 79.9% had primary glomerulopathy and 20.1% had secondary glomerulopathy, with membranous glomerulopathy at 31.9%, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis at 26.7%, and minimal change disease (MCD) at 20.7%. The pattern of glomerulopathy was significantly associated with age ( P < 0.05); MCD was higher in those aged up to 30 years, whereas membrane glomerulonephritis was more prevalent in the 31–60 age group. A significant observation was a higher prevalence of membranous nephropathy right from the 2 nd decade of life, with a peak in the 3 rd and 4 th decades. Renal amyloidosis was more common in those over 60 years. Conclusion: The primary GDs, mainly membranous glomerulopathy, accounted for about 80% of cases in the Himalayan region of Northern India. A notable occurrence of membranous nephropathy in younger age groups was documented, which raises an important question about the presence of a novel antigen in the Himalayan belt for which further studies might be needed.
Kumar et al. (Thu,) studied this question.