What is light chain nephropathy?

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@son Light chains (molecular weight 22,000 d) are polypeptides that are synthesized by plasma cells and form part of immunoglobulins. Plasma cells normally produce a slight excess of light chains that are either excreted or catabolized by the kidney, and only a minute amount of light-chain protein normally appears in the urine. Light-chain proteins appear in urine in high concentration either when the production of light-chain proteins is markedly increased or when the ability of the proximal tubules to reabsorb all the filtered protein is diminished.
The most characteristic histologic lesion of light chain deposition disease (LCDD) is nodular glomerulosclerosis, which must be distinguished from diabetic glomerulosclerosis by using electron microscopy. The term Bence Jones protein has been used to designate a urinary protein that leaves solution at approximately 56°C under certain conditions of pH and ionic strength and returns to the solution upon further heating to 100°C. The Bence Jones protein represents a homogeneous population of immunoglobulin light chains of either kappa type or lambda type and is the product of a presumed single clone of plasma cells. The presence of light-chain proteins in the urine is associated with a number of systemic diseases