Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Volume 9 Issue 10, October 2013

Scanning electron micrograph of murine podocytes enwrapping a glomerular capillary with their foot processes. Magnification 30,000. Cover image supplied by Martin Helmstdter and Bjrn Hartleben, Huber Laboratory, University Hospital Freiburg, Germany.

Research Highlight

Top of page ⤴

In Brief

Top of page ⤴

Research Highlight

Top of page ⤴

In Brief

Top of page ⤴

Research Highlight

Top of page ⤴

News & Views

  • Ezzelarab et al. report that regulatory dendritic cells administered prior to transplantation modulate alloimmunity and increase kidney allograft survival. This finding provides the first evidence of the immunosuppressive efficacy of modified dendritic cells in a stringent pre-clinical primate model, offering hope that long-term immunosuppression of transplant recipients could be minimized or avoided.

    • Agnes M. Azimzadeh
    • Jonathan S. Bromberg
    News & Views
  • Accurate stratification of renal risk is important for the effective management of patients with type 2 diabetes. In a new study, Elley et al. report and validate a 5-year prediction model for the development of end-stage renal disease in patients with type 2 diabetes in primary care.

    • Merlin C. Thomas
    • Per-Henrik Groop
    News & Views
  • An epidemic of chronic kidney disease of unknown aetiology has emerged in Central America and resulted in the highest rates of end-stage renal disease worldwide. New findings from the first renal biopsy study of patients with Mesoamerican nephropathy should help medical detectives to 'crack' the cause of this disease.

    • Richard J. Johnson
    • Laura G. Sánchez-Lozada
    News & Views
  • Ravani et al. report that rituximab is a safe and effective steroid-sparing and calcineurin-inhibitor-sparing agent in 46 children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome over a median follow-up of 3 years. What is the risk-to-benefit profile of rituximab compared to that of the other available drugs for treating this disease?

    • Olivia Boyer
    • Patrick Niaudet
    News & Views
  • Renal fibrosis and anaemia are hallmarks of progressive chronic kidney disease (CKD). New evidence demonstrates that these conditions are intimately connected, as injury triggers the phenotypic transition of renal erythropoietin-producing cells into fibrogenic myofibroblasts. Strategies to reverse such a transition may hold promise to alleviate both anaemia and fibrosis in CKD.

    • Liangxiang Xiao
    • Youhua Liu
    News & Views
  • The optimal dialysate bicarbonate concentration is one that prevents acidosis at the beginning of the next dialysis session while avoiding postdialysis alkalosis. Few studies have assessed the effect of different dialysate bicarbonate levels on patient outcomes, but Tentori et al. now report that high dialysate bicarbonate concentrations may contribute to adverse outcomes.

    • Carlo Basile
    • Carlo Lomonte
    News & Views
  • Multiple interventions can retard the progression or prevent the development of microvascular and macrovascular complications in patients with diabetes, but the effects of early glycaemic control seem to be longer lasting than those of blood pressure control. Cherney et al. now report that renin–angiotensin system blockade has sustained beneficial effects in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

    • Christos Chatzikyrkou
    • Jan Menne
    News & Views
  • Ralib et al. report that urine output (UO) <0.3 ml/kg/h for >6 h predicts a composite outcome of mortality and dialysis requirement in critically ill patients. Their findings validate UO as a marker of acute kidney injury, but raise the question of whether the diagnostic thresholds should be more stringent.

    • Ravindra L. Mehta
    News & Views
  • A new study by Turin et al. reports that proteinuria of increasing severity is associated with a faster rate of decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), regardless of eGFR at baseline. These findings support the use of proteinuria testing to identify individuals at risk of chronic kidney disease progression.

    • Kunitoshi Iseki
    News & Views
  • A new meta-analysis reports that intensive blood pressure lowering reduces the risk of kidney failure in patients with chronic kidney disease and albuminuria. However, the level of blood pressure control required for optimum protection of the cardiovascular and renal systems remains unclear.

    • Luis M. Ruilope
    News & Views
Top of page ⤴

Review Article

  • Amyloid formation and deposition results in a progressive disturbance of organ function. The kidneys are frequently involved in systemic amyloidosis and, without treatment, the disease is usually fatal. In this Review, the authors discuss amyloid pathophysiology, diagnosis, and current and future therapeutic strategies for the various systemic amyloidosis syndromes.

    • Julian D. Gillmore
    • Philip N. Hawkins
    Review Article
  • This article highlights the evolution in understanding of the podocyte slit diaphragm. Now appreciated as far more than a simple intercellular connection, the slit diaphragm controls the structure and function of the glomerular filtration barrier. However, several slit diaphragm properties remain unclear: its role in filtration, exact molecular structure, and the complex pathways initiated by this dynamic signalling hub.

    • Florian Grahammer
    • Christoph Schell
    • Tobias B. Huber
    Review Article
  • Cardiac disease and renal disease are frequently accompanied by nonthyroidal illness, which can result in deterioration of cardiovascular and renal function via several pathways. In this Review, the authors discuss the hypothesis that nonthyroidal illness is a cardiorenal connector in the genesis and maintenance of the cardiorenal syndrome, and describe data from studies that have investigated the efficacy of thyroid hormone replacement therapy in patients with renal or cardiac disease.

    • Christiaan L. Meuwese
    • Olaf M. Dekkers
    • Juan J. Carrero
    Review Article
  • In Africa, the burden of treating the more common and widespread communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis has meant that treatment of kidney disease has been a low priority. In this Review, the authors describe the epidemiology of acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease in Africa. They discuss the unique problems faced across this continent and the programmes that have been put in place to attempt to tackle these problems.

    • Charles R. Swanepoel
    • Nicola Wearne
    • Ikechi G. Okpechi
    Review Article
Top of page ⤴

Search

Quick links