The expression of respiratory tract virus in pediatric glomerular disease: a retrospective study of 45 renal biopsy in China

BACKGROUND: More attention has been put on the relationship between pediatric glomerular disease and respiratory tract virus infection. Children with glomerular illness, however, are uncommonly found to have biopsy-proven pathological evidence of viral infection. The purpose of this study is to determine whether and what kind of respiratory viruses are found in renal biopsy from glomerular disorders. METHODS: We used a multiplex PCR to identify a wide range of respiratory tract viruses in the renal biopsy samples (n = 45) from children with glomerular disorders and a specific PCR to verify their expression. RESULTS: These case series included 45 of 47 renal biopsy specimens, with 37.8% of male and 62.2% of female patients. Indications for a kidney biopsy were present in all of the individuals. In 80% of the samples, respiratory syncytial virus was discovered. Following that, the RSV subtypes in several pediatric renal disorders were found. There were 16 RSVA positives, 5 RSVB positives, and 15 RSVA/B positives, accounting for 44.4%, 13.9%, and 41.7%, respectively. Nephrotic syndrome samples made up 62.5% of RSVA positive specimens. The RSVA/B-positive was detected in all pathological histological types. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with glomerular disease exhibit respiratory tract viral expression in the renal tissues, especially respiratory syncytial virus. This research offers new information on the detection of respiratory tract viruses in renal tissue, which may facilitate the identification and treatment of pediatric glomerular diseases. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12882-023-03083-8.