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.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Diabetic nephropathy

Diabetic nephropathy—challenges in pathologic classification

A new pathologic classification scheme for diabetic nephropathy, in which only glomerular lesions are used to classify renal damage associated with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes, has been developed in association with the Renal Pathology Society. Given the heterogeneity of the renal lesions underlying diabetic nephropathy and the complex natural history of the disease, this scheme is not yet ready for clinical application but should be considered an important first step towards the development of a clinically useful classification system.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Tervaert, T. W. et al. Pathologic classification of diabetic nephropathy. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 21, 556–563 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Parving, H.-H., Mauer, M. & Ritz, E. In Brenner & Rector's The Kidney, 7th edn (ed. Brenner, B. M). 1777–1818 (Saunders, Philadelphia, 2004).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Fioretto, P., Caramori, M. L. & Mauer, M. The kidney in diabetes: dynamic pathways of injury and repair. Diabetologia 51, 1347–1355 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Osterby, R. et al. Glomerular structure and function in proteinuric type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetic patients. Diabetologia 36, 1064–1070 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Fioretto, P. et al. Patterns of renal injury in NIDDM patients with microalbuminuria. Diabetologia 39, 1569–1576 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Gambara, V., Mecca, G., Remuzzi, G. & Bertani, T. Heterogeneous nature of renal lesions in type II diabetes. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 3, 1458–1466 (1993).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Mauer, S. M. et al. Structural–functional relationships in diabetic nephropathy. J. Clin. Invest. 74, 1143–1155 (1984).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Urizar, R. E, Schwartz, A., Top F. Jr & Vernier, R. L. The nephrotic syndrome in children with diabetes mellitus of recent onset. N. Engl. J. Med. 281, 173–181 (1969).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Najafian, B., Crosson, J. T., Kim, Y. & Mauer, M. Glomerulotubular junction abnormalities are associated with proteinuria in type 1 diabetes. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 17 (Suppl. 2), S53–S60 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Harris, R. D., Steffes, M. W., Bilous, R. W., Sutherland, D. E. & Mauer, S. M. Global glomerular sclerosis and glomerular arteriolar hyalinosis in insulin dependent diabetes. Kidney Int. 40, 107–114 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paola Fioretto.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fioretto, P., Mauer, M. Diabetic nephropathy—challenges in pathologic classification. Nat Rev Nephrol 6, 508–510 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneph.2010.96

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneph.2010.96

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing