Volume 1 Issue 2, December 2005

Recurrence of lupus nephritis after kidney transplantation is often regarded as rare, and transplantation of patients with end-stage renal disease secondary to this condition is common. Several studies, however, have reported a higher incidence of recurrence of lupusnephritis after renal transplantation than the 1–4% which is usually quoted. Weng and Goral discuss reasons for the variation in reported incidence of recurrent lupus nephritis and consider the potential clinical impact of recurrence.

The escalating burden of diabetic nephropathy is largely a function of the increased frequency of type 2 diabetes, which is associated with obesity and the metabolic syndrome. Prevention is dependent on elucidation of causal mechanisms. Here, Richard Johnson and colleagues present evidence for a mechanism that might form the basis of novel intervention strategies.

Does erythropoietin have the potential to ameliorate renal injury in humans? This article addresses this question in the context of our current understanding of the pathophysiology of acute renal failure. Recent findings from experimental models are presented, and their relevance to mechanisms of acute renal failure—including endothelial and tubular cell injury, and inflammation—are discussed.

In this comprehensive review, Giuseppe Remuzzi and colleagues present a hypothesis for the pathophysiology of pre-eclampsia that unifies findings from a recent flurry of research. These new insights should spur the development of novel treatments for the hypertension and proteinuria that are hallmarks of this leading cause of fetal and maternal morbidity.