Clinicopathologic, Proteomic and Outcome Characteristics of Renal Apolipoprotein C-II Amyloidosis: A Case Series

Rationale & objective: Amyloidosis derived from apolipoprotein C-II (AApoCII) is a recently discovered, rare form of amyloidosis. Data on clinical presentations and natural history are very limited. This study defines the clinicopathologic, proteomic and outcome characteristics of renal AApoCII.

Study design: Case series.

Setting & participants: Twenty-five renal AApoCII cases were identified from the Mayo Clinic Tissue Proteomics Laboratory archives from January 2008 through January 2024.

Findings: All patients were White, 19 were ≥65 years old at diagnosis, and 18 were female. Seven had a family history of CKD. Patients presented with proteinuria (median 3.3 g/day) and reduced kidney function (n=16, median creatinine 1.6 mg/dl). No patient had clinical evidence of other organ involvement by amyloidosis or features of monogenic hypertriglyceridemia. Histologically, amyloid deposits were often weakly positive for Congo red and involved glomeruli in all cases (with a nodular pattern in 22), whereas extraglomerular involvement was less common and generally mild. Proteomic analysis revealed abundant spectra for Apo C-II and for all 3 amyloid signature proteins (Apo E, Apo A-IV and SAP) in all cases, and detected an Apo C-II variant in 14 (K19T [p.Lys41Thr] in 12 and E47V [p.Glu69Val] in 2). Among 22 patients with follow-up available, there were 12 ESKD events and 2 deaths without ESKD during an average (SE) follow up of 75.5 (12.5) months.

Limitations: Retrospective design, small sample size, APOC2 gene sequencing performed in a smaller subset.

Conclusions: AApoCII mostly affects the kidney, and manifests in the elderly with proteinuria and CKD. A minority of these patients had a family history of kidney disease. Kidney failure occurred in about half, whereas overall survival was more favorable.