Cytokines articles within Nature Reviews Nephrology

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  • Review Article |

    Sterile inflammation triggered by activation of the innate immune system is an important driver of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and its associated cardiovascular disease. Here, Speer et al. summarize current understanding of the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of CKD and CKD-associated cardiovascular disease, and how these insights may translate into novel therapeutic strategies.

    • Thimoteus Speer
    • , Stefanie Dimmeler
    •  & Paul M Ridker

  • Comment |

    The prevalence of direct kidney involvement in novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is low, but such involvement is a marker of multiple organ dysfunction and severe disease. Here, we explore potential pathways of kidney damage and discuss the rationale for extracorporeal support with various blood purification strategies in patients who are critically ill with COVID-19.

    • Claudio Ronco
    •  & Thiago Reis

  • Review Article |

    Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) is crucial to phosphate and calcium homeostasis. In this Review, the authors discuss how levels of biologically active FGF23 are controlled by balanced FGF23 transcription and protein cleavage, and how serum iron levels, inflammation and erythropoietin affect that balance.

    • Daniel Edmonston
    •  & Myles Wolf

  • Review Article |

    Therapeutic modulation of hypoxia-inducible factors, which transduce adaptive transcriptional responses to hypoxia, is an emerging theme in kidney disease. This Review summarizes the hypoxia signalling mechanisms underpinning these novel treatments and highlights key remaining questions relevant to their clinical use.

    • Johannes Schödel
    •  & Peter J. Ratcliffe

  • Review Article |

    Macrophages are versatile immune cells that protect the host against infection but can also promote chronic inflammation and fibrosis. In this Review, the authors discuss the diverse roles of macrophages in acute and chronic renal pathology as well as potential therapeutic targets.

    • Patrick Ming-Kuen Tang
    • , David J. Nikolic-Paterson
    •  & Hui-Yao Lan

  • Year in Review |

    Numerous exciting studies that advanced our understanding of immune-mediated kidney disease were published in 2018. Whereas most of these studies analysed the role of pro-inflammatory mediators, several novel anti-inflammatory mechanisms were discovered that involve immune cells and mediators with previously unrecognized protective roles in renal disease.

    • Christian Kurts
    •  & Catherine Meyer-Schwesinger

  • Review Article |

    Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) is a key driver of fibrosis in chronic kidney disease, acting via canonical and non-canonical signalling pathways to activate myofibroblasts and induce the production of extracellular matrix. This Review describes the mechanisms by which TGF-β promotes renal fibrosis, the pathways that modulate TGF-β signalling, and new therapeutic opportunities for the inhibition of TGF-β-driven renal fibrosis

    • Xiao-ming Meng
    • , David J. Nikolic-Paterson
    •  & Hui Yao Lan

  • Year in Review |

    Numerous studies in 2015 focused on therapeutic immune modulation and immunosuppression. Trials of budenoside in patients with IgA nephropathy who are unresponsive to supportive therapy, and of low-dose IL-2 to enforce regulatory T-cell-mediated immunosuppression in autoimmune disease all produced promising results.

    • Hans-Joachim Anders

  • Review Article |

    Renal anaemia, resulting from impaired renal production of erythropoietin, is a common occurrence in patients with chronic kidney disease. Conventional erythropoiesis stimulating agents can be used to treat the condition, but small-molecule inhibitors of prolyl hydroxylase domain-containing (PHD) enzymes might provide a more efficient and tolerable approach to anaemia management. Here, Maxwell and Eckardt describe the rationale for targeting PHD enzymes to increase erythropoietin production. They also discuss other potential on-target consequences of HIF activation and possible off-target effects on enzymes that are structurally similar to PHD enzymes.

    • Patrick H. Maxwell
    •  & Kai-Uwe Eckardt

  • Review Article |

    Progression of kidney disease is characterized by the sustained release of proinflammatory and profibrotic cytokines and growth factors, leading to renal fibrosis. TGF-β is considered to be one of the main regulators of fibrosis, but preclinical studies have revealed important synergistic roles for other growth factors, including CTGF, EGF and PDGF, in this process. Here, the authors discuss the roles of these growth factors in kidney fibrosis, as well as the evidence supporting their qualification as additional targets for novel antifibrotic therapies.

    • Helena M. Kok
    • , Lucas L. Falke
    •  & Tri Q. Nguyen

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