Renal Failure

Novel Aspects of Immune-Mediated Glomerulonephritis: Immunologic, Microbial, and Viral Mechanisms

Immune-mediated glomerulonephritis (GN) is a major cause of kidney failure globally and arises from a complex interplay of genetic susceptibility, environmental triggers, and dysregulated immune pathways. Emerging evidence indicates that mucosal immunity—particularly signals derived from the gut microbiome—plays a central role in shaping systemic inflammation, autoantibody formation, complement activation, and glomerular injury. In parallel, alterations in the gut virome and bacteriophage–bacteria ecological dynamics are increasingly recognized as crucial modulators of immune activation. Advances in high-throughput sequencing and multi-omics technologies now provide the opportunity to examine these interconnected pathways with unprecedented resolution and depth, enabling new mechanistic insights into disease heterogeneity and immune dysregulation across GN subtypes.

Understanding microbial–immune crosstalk has profound implications for redefining the pathogenesis, classification, and treatment of immune-mediated GN. Disruptions in the gut microbiome or virome can drive aberrant mucosal immune activation, dysregulated IgA responses, and complement overactivation—key mechanisms implicated in diseases such as IgA nephropathy (IgAN), lupus nephritis, membranous nephropathy, and ANCA-associated vasculitis. A mechanistic framework linking microbial dysbiosis to kidney-specific immune injury may facilitate the development of novel biomarkers, refine patient stratification, and identify microbial or immune signatures predictive of treatment response or disease progression. As microbiome-targeted and immunomodulatory interventions rapidly evolve—including probiotics, fecal microbiota transplantation, fecal virome transplantation, and complement inhibitors—there is a timely need to consolidate current knowledge and foster interdisciplinary research to accelerate clinical translation.

This Article Collection will focus on the immunopathogenic roles of the gut microbiome in immune-mediated GN. We aim to highlight recent advances in the following areas (including but not limited to):

• Gut microbiome-driven immune mechanisms in immune-mediated GN;
• Roles of the gut virome and bacteriophages in immune-mediated GN;
• Immune pathways activated by microbial and viral signals in the pathogenesis of immune-mediated GN;
• Multi-omics approaches to microbiom-virome-immunity networks in immune-mediated GN.

Special Focus: IgA Nephropathy

As a prototypical mucosal-immune-renal disorder, IgAN provides an important model for understanding the interactions between the gut microbiome and the immune system in glomerular injury. This subtopic will examine gut microbiome dysbiosis, mucosal immune activation, aberrant Gd-IgA1 production and immune complex formation, complement pathway involvement, and multi-omics insights into the pathogenesis of IgAN.

We also welcome studies investigating microbiome- and immune-targeted therapeutic strategies—including nanomedicine, fecal microbiota transplantation, fecal virome transplantation, and multi-strain probiotic therapies—which may inform future precision interventions.

Article Collection key terms:

• Immune-mediated glomerulonephritis
• Gut microbiome
• Mucosal immunity
• Microbial dysbiosis
• Multi-omics

Article Collection Guest Advisors:

Dr Xu-Jie Zhou is an Associate Chief Physician and Associate Professor of Nephrology at Peking University First Hospital. He has long been engaged in research on the genetic and molecular mechanisms of kidney diseases. His work spans molecular genetics, glomerular disease pathophysiology, and translational nephrology, contributing significantly to the understanding of inherited and immune-mediated renal disorders.

Dr Yafeng Li is a Chief Physician in Nephrology at the Eighth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University. He has long been engaged in mucosal immune modulation in IgA nephropathy, as well as the diagnosis and management of hereditary and rare kidney diseases. His expertise spans clinical nephrology, glomerular diseases, and translational research.

Dr Xin Wang is a resident physician in Intensive Care Medicine at Peking University People’s Hospital. His research focuses on the roles of the gut microbiota and gut virome in immune-mediated glomerulonephritis—particularly IgA nephropathy—and the mechanisms underlying IgA production and dysregulation. He integrates multi-omics approaches, including metagenomics, viromics, and single-cell technologies, to investigate microbial and immunologic drivers of glomerular injury. He is dedicated to advancing microbiome- and immune-targeted strategies for precision kidney medicine.

All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo a full peer-review; the Guest Advisors for this Collection will not be handling the manuscripts (unless they are an Editorial Board member).

Please review the journal scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript.

The deadline for submitting manuscripts is 2nd November 2026.

Please contact Rebecca Kearns at [email protected] with any queries and discount codes regarding this Article Collection.

Please be sure to select the appropriate Article Collection from the drop-down menu in the submission system.

The Guest Advisors for this Article Collection have declared no conflict of interests