REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Autoimmune and Autoinflammatory Disorders : Autoimmune Disorders
This article is part of the Research TopicAutoimmune Glomerular Diseases: From Molecular Mechanisms to Precision TherapiesView all 6 articles
Research Progress on the Lectin Pathway of Complement in IgA Nephropathy
Provisionally accepted
- 1Binzhou Medical University, Binzhou, China
- 2Zibo Central Hospital, Zibo, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
As an autoimmune disease, IgA nephropathy is pathologically characterized by the deposition of immunoglobulin A (IgA) in the glomerular mesangial area. Recent research has confirmed that the activation of the lectin pathway in the complement system may be related to the development and prognosis of IgA nephropathy (IgAN). These deposited immune complexes trigger the complement cascade, generating various inflammatory mediators that directly attack glomerular mesangial cells and promote mesangial matrix proliferation and crescent formation, ultimately leading to end stage renal disease. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of complement activation pathways not only provides potential non-invasive biomarkers (such as urinary complement components) for assessing disease activity and prognosis, more importantly, establishes a theoretical foundation for developing novel anti-complement targeted therapies. This holds promise for opening new directions in the personalized precision treatment of IgA nephropathy. This article reviews the research progress on the lectin pathway and its associated components in IgA nephropathy.
Keywords: C4d, complement system, Crescent, IgA nephropathy (IgAN), lectin pathway (MBL), MASP
Received: 30 Nov 2025; Accepted: 11 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Yu, Gao and Sun. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xifeng Sun
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.