Analysis of anionic charge of the glomerular basement membrane in aminonucleoside nephrosis

Although there is growing evidence that suggests the importance of the electrostatically charged barrier in the transglome-rular permeation of macromolecules, a controversy still exists as to whether or not the anionic charge barrier is deteriorated in nephrotic states [1–5]. The disparity of opinions seems to arise from the paucity of established methods for quantitative evaluation of the anionic charge. In the present study, a method to morphologically demonstrate the anionic sites in glomerular basement membrane (GBM) was developed, and anionic charge was quantified. With this method, the change of the charge barrier was estimated in puromycin aminonucleoside (PAN) nephrosis in rats