Volume 18 Issue 7, July 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vital role of vaccination in preventing life-threatening diseases and improving global health. Understanding and addressing the concerns of vaccine-hesitant individuals, including those with chronic diseases, is key to increasing vaccine acceptance and uptake.

People with chronic diseases are at high risk of becoming innocent victims of the Russian–Ukrainian war, owing to interruption of their health care. More than 10 million Ukrainian people have left their homes and almost 5 million have left the country. Provision of kidney care for these refugees is an emerging challenge.

Targeting type I interferon immune responses is a potential strategy for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus. Although a phase 2 clinical trial of anifrolumab did not meet its primary end point, further studies are needed to assess the effects of interferon blockade on flare rates of lupus nephritis. However, the observed higher risk of herpes zoster associated with anifrolumab use suggests that caution is warranted with this strategy.

Drosophila melanogaster can be a useful experimental model in nephrology. Here, the authors examine the fly renal system, focusing on the Malpighian tubules and nephrocytes, and discuss its advantages and limitations as a model system and the mechanistic insights into kidney disease that they have provided.

Here, the authors describe the determinants of ‘absolute’ and ‘relative’ glomerular hyperfiltration and discuss single-nephron haemodynamic changes as pathophysiological factors that might result in progressive kidney injury. They also explain how interventions that mitigate glomerular hyperfiltration might translate into long-term renoprotection.

Emerging evidence suggests that artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled decision support systems may have an important role in the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of kidney diseases. This Review provides an overview of AI fundamentals and the state of the art of AI-enabled decision support systems in nephrology.

Understanding of the pathogenesis of membranous nephropathy has improved substantially, thanks to the discovery of pathogenic circulating autoantibodies against endogenous antigens. This Review provides an overview of the immunological processes involved in the aetiopathogenesis of membranous nephropathy, including loss of immune tolerance, genetic susceptibility factors and the role of autoantibody binding in the kidney.