Anti-GBM Disease (Goodpasture, with kidney involvement)

Anti-GBM disease affects the glomeruli, and sometimes the lungs, when the immune system produces antibodies against a specific protein within type IV collagen, a structural component of the glomerular basement membrane and, in the lungs, the alveolar membrane. These antibodies bind directly to that membrane and trigger a rapid, small-vessel inflammatory process that can impair kidney filtering and, when the lungs are involved, gas exchange.

Anti-GBM disease is considered rare, and research describes it as accounting for around one in five cases of a pattern of rapidly progressive kidney inflammation called crescentic glomerulonephritis, while remaining an uncommon cause of kidney failure overall. Because the disease can move quickly, prompt specialist treatment, often combining plasma exchange with immune-suppressing medication, is considered central to preserving kidney function and, when present, lung function.

Common signs

Blood in the urine (visible or not), reduced urine output, tiredness, nausea or poor appetite, and swelling. When the lungs are involved, coughing up blood and shortness of breath can occur.

This is a plain-language summary for orientation, not a diagnosis. Mechanisms are described as current understanding, not settled fact. Work with your own clinician for your care.