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Chronic kidney disease

Mesoamerican nephropathy—new clues to the cause

Nature Reviews Nephrology volume 9, pages 560–561 (2013)Cite this article

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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.

An epidemic of chronic kidney disease (CKD) of unknown aetiology—named Mesoamerican nephropathy1—is occurring with devastating frequency in Pacific coastal communities in Central America. The disease primarily affects men working in extremely hot conditions in agricultural communities, especially workers in sugar cane fields.2,3,4 Patients present with non-nephrotic proteinuria and an asymptomatic elevation in serum creatinine level, and typically show no evidence of diabetes or hypertension. Wijkström et al. recently reported renal morphology data from the first study of the renal pathology of Mesoamerican nephropathy.5 Their important paper provides key information that may help us to better understand the cause of this new disease.

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References

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Ricardo Correa-Rotter for his valuable suggestions relating to this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, University of Colorado, RC-2 Anschutz Medical Campus, Denver, 80045, CO, USA

    Richard J. Johnson

  2. Department of Nephrology, Laboratory of Renal Physiopathology, INC Ignacio Chávez, Juan Badiano 1, Mexico City, 14080, Mexico

    Laura G. Sánchez-Lozada

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  1. Richard J. Johnson
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  2. Laura G. Sánchez-Lozada
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Correspondence to Richard J. Johnson.

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Johnson, R., Sánchez-Lozada, L. Mesoamerican nephropathy—new clues to the cause. Nat Rev Nephrol 9, 560–561 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneph.2013.174

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