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Original article at: http://www.nature.com/ki/journal/v76/n3/abs/ki2009136a.html

Clinicopathological characteristics and outcomes of patients with crescentic lupus nephritis

 

Feng Yu 1,2,3, Ying Tan 1,2,3, Gang Liu 1,2,3, Su-xia Wang 1,2,3, Wan-zhong Zou 1,2,3 and Ming-hui Zhao 1,2,3

1 Renal Division, Department of Medicine, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, PR China; 2 Institute of Nephrology, Peking University,Beijing, PR China; 3 Key Laboratory of Renal Disease, Ministry of Health of China, Beijing, PR China 

 

There are few clinicopathologic and outcome data on patients with crescentic lupus nephritis, therefore, we determined factors of the disease by retrospectively reviewing the records of 327 patients diagnosed with lupus nephritis. Of these, 152 cases were regrouped as class IV-G, including 33 patients with crescentic glomerulonephritis. Significantly, all patients with crescentic glomerulonephritis had acute kidney injury as compared with only about a quarter of the patients without the disease. On pathological evaluation, activity scores, chronicity indexes, relapse rates, and the frequency of positive serum anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) were each significantly higher, whereas complete remission rates and renal outcomes, over a mean follow-up of 4 years, were significantly poorer in patients with crescentic glomerulonephritis. Our study shows that crescentic glomerulonephritis was not rare in patients

with lupus nephritis and that their long-term outcome was poor. The precise role of ANCA in the pathologic course of crescentic lupus nephritis remains to be determined.

 

Kidney International (2009) 76, 307–317; doi:10.1038/ki.2009.136.

KEYWORDS: anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies; crescentic glomerulonephritis; lupus nephritis

Correspondence:  Ming-hui Zhao, Renal Division, Department of Medicine,

Peking University First Hospital, Institute of Nephrology, Peking University,

Key Laboratory of Renal Disease, Ministry of Health of China, Beijing 100034,

PR China. E-mail: mhzhao@bjmu.edu.cn

 

Original article at: http://www.nature.com/ki/journal/v76/n5/abs/ki2009243a.html

The Oxford classification of IgA nephropathy: rationale, clinicopathological correlations, and classification

 

A Working Group of the International IgA Nephropathy Network and the Renal Pathology Society:

Daniel C. Cattran 1,w, Rosanna Coppo 2,w, H. Terence Cook 3,w, John Feehally 4,w, Ian S.D. Roberts 5,w, Ste´phan Troyanov 6,w, Charles E. Alpers 7, Alessandro Amore 2, Jonathan Barratt 4, Francois Berthoux 8,Stephen Bonsib 9, Jan A. Bruijn 10, Vivette D’Agati 11, Giuseppe D’Amico 12, Steven Emancipator 13, Francesco Emma 14, Franco Ferrario  15, Fernando C. Fervenza 16, Sandrine Florquin 17, Agnes Fogo 18, Colin C. Geddes 1 9, Hermann-Josef Groene 20, Mark Haas 21, Andrew M. Herzenberg 22, Prue A. Hill 23, Ronald J. Hogg 24, Stephen I. Hsu 25, J. Charles Jennette 26, Kensuke Joh 27, Bruce A. Julian 28,Tetsuya Kawamura 29, Fernand M. Lai 30, Chi Bon Leung 31, Lei-Shi Li 32, Philip K.T. Li 31, Zhi-Hong Liu 32,Bruce Mackinnon 19, Sergio Mezzano 33, F. Paolo Schena 34, Yasuhiko Tomino 35, Patrick D. Walker 36,Haiyan Wang 37, Jan J. Weening 38, Nori Yoshikawa 39 and Hong Zhang 37

IgA nephropathy is the most common glomerular disease worldwide, yet there is no international consensus for its pathological or clinical classification. Here a new classification for IgA nephropathy is presented by an international consensus working group. The goal of this new system was to identify specific pathological features that more accurately predict risk of progression of renal disease in IgA nephropathy, thus enabling both clinicians and pathologists  to improve individual patient prognostication. In a retrospective analysis, sequential clinical data were obtained on 265 adults and children with IgA nephropathy who were followed for a median of 5 years. Renal biopsies from all patients were scored by pathologists blinded to the clinical data for pathological variables identified as reproducible by an iterative process. Four of these variables: (1) the mesangial hypercellularity score, (2) segmental glomerulosclerosis,

(3) endocapillary hypercellularity, and (4) tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis were subsequently shown to have independent value in predicting renal outcome. These specific pathological features withstood rigorous statistical analysis even after taking into account all clinical indicators available at the time of biopsy as well as during follow-up. The features have prognostic significance and we recommended they be taken into account for predicting outcome independent of the clinical features both at the time of presentation and during follow-up. The value of crescents was not addressed due to

their low prevalence in the enrolled cohort.

 

Kidney International (2009) 76, 534–545; doi:10.1038/ki.2009.243

KEYWORDS: glomerulonephritis; IgA nephropathy; Oxford classification;

pathology; renal failure

Correspondence: John Feehally, The John Walls Renal Unit, Leicester

General Hospital, Leicester LE5 4PW, UK. E-mail: jf27@le.ac.uk

W These authors contributed equally to the work and are named in alphabetical order.

 

Original article at: http://www.nature.com/ki/journal/v76/n7/abs/ki2008666a.html

Light chain proximal tubulopathy

 

Leal C. Herlitz 1, Joseph Roglieri 2, Regina Resta 3, Govind Bhagat 1 and Glen S. Markowitz 1

1 Department of Pathology, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA; 2 Northeast Nephrology Associates, Troy, NY, USA and 3 New York Oncology Hematology P.C., Troy, NY, USA

CASE PRESENTATION

A 55-year-old Caucasian woman presented to her primary care physician with complaints of progressive fatigue for several months, dyspnea with minimal exertion, loss of appetite, 15-pound weight loss, and recurrent low-grade fevers. Past medical history was significant only for migraine headaches. The patient was taking no prescription or over-the-counter medications. There was no history of environmental toxin exposure, recent travel, smoking, excess alcohol consumption, or use of illicit

drugs. She was empirically treated with a course of esomeprazole and amoxicillin.

                         The patient returned 2 weeks later and reported no improvement in her symptoms. Laboratory studies revealed anemia, thrombocytopenia, hypercalcemia, and acute renal failure. The patient was admitted for further evaluation.

                      Upon admission, physical examination revealed a well nourished but pale female in no acute distress. Her blood pressure was 156/70mmHg, pulse 96 bpm, temperature 98.6 F, respiratory rate 20 breaths/min, and pulse oximetry 100% on room air. Cardiac and pulmonary examinations were unremarkable. Abdominal examination revealed splenomegaly with a palpable liver edge 1–2cm below the right costal margin. Laboratory testing (Table 1) was notable for a hemoglobin of 6.1 g/dl (normal range, 11.0–15.0 g/dl), platelet count 112 K/mm3 (nl 150–400 K/ mm3), creatinine 3.7mg/dl, BUN 34mg/dl, and calcium12.4mg/dl (nl 8.5–10.1mg/dl). Liver function tests, coagulation studies, and parathyroid hormone levels were normal. Urinalysis revealed 1ž protein, 1ž glucose, and trace blood. Negative serologies included anti-glomerular basement membrane antibody, proteinase-3 antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies, and myeloperoxidase anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies. Serum complement levels were mildly elevated with C3 179.0mg/dl (nl 75–135mg/dl) and C4 41.9mg/dl (nl 9–36mg/dl). Serum protein electrophoresis with immunofixation showed no monoclonal protein. A bone marrow biopsy revealed normocellular marrow with no evidence of lymphoma or a plasma cell dyscrasia. A noncontrast computed tomography scan of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis was notable for splenomegaly (18x15x10cm) with a hypodense area measuring 7x7x4 cm and mild hepatomegaly. The kidneys measured 11.7 and 12 cm in length by ultrasound, without evidence of obstruction. A skeletal survey showed no abnormalities.

                      The patient was treated with hydration and a single dose of pamidronate. At the time of discharge 6 days later, her creatinine had fallen to 1.9mg/dl, and her calcium had normalized.

                     The patient was seen in nephrologic consultation 1 week after discharge, at which time her creatinine had declined to 1.5mg/dl. Computed tomography scan was repeated with contrast and revealed a 19x16x10cm spleen with an ill-defined 11x11x13cm mass with areas of probable necrosis. In light of the absence of a clear

indication for splenectomy, a renal biopsy was performed to determine the cause of the patient’s persistent renal   dysfunction.

 

KEYWORDS: kappa light chain; light chain Fanconi syndrome; lymphoma

Kidney International (2009) 76, 792–797; doi:10.1038/ki.2008.666

Correspondence: Glen S. Markowitz, Department of Pathology, Columbia

University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, 630 West 168th Street, VC14-224, New York, NY 10032, USA. E-mail: gsm17@columbia.edu

 

Original article at: http://ndt.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/24/11/3265

Kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1): a urinary biomarker

and much more

Joseph V. Bonventre

Renal Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

 

The kidney injury molecule-1 (designated as Kim-1 in rodents, KIM-1 in humans) mRNA was identified using techniques of representational difference analysis, a PCR-based technique [1], which we carried out to find genes whose expression was markedly upregulated 24–48 h after ischaemia in the rat [2]. Kim-1 was the gene found to be most highly upregulated in this screen. A large pharmaceutical company consortium, using an unbiased genomic approach to evaluate genes upregulated with the nephrotoxin cisplatin, determined that Kim-1 was upregulated more than any other of the 30 000 genes tested [3]. There are a large number of studies in animals showing robust Kim-1 protein production in the affected segments of the proximal tubule whenever a toxin or pathophysiological state results in dedifferentiation of the epithelium (e.g. [4–6]). Dedifferentiation is a very early manifestation of the epithelial cell response to injury

Keywords: acute kidney injury; TIM-1; acute renal failure; phagocytosis; apoptosis

Nephrol Dial Transplant (2009) 24: 3265–3268, doi: 10.1093/ndt/gfp010,

 Advance Access publication 23 March 2009

Correspondence :Joseph V. Bonventre;

E-mail: joseph_bonventre@hms.harvard.edu