Chinese herbs nephropathy and Balkan endemic nephropathy: toward a single entity, aristolochic acid nephropathy

Endemic (Balkan) nephropathy is aristolochic acid nephropathy.

Endemic nephropathy is a syndrome that comprises two entities: chronic interstitial nephropathy and urothelial cell cancers predominantly of the upper urinary tract. The etiological agent for the disease is aristolochic acid, a compound found in the plants of Aristolochia spp. The development of urothelial cancers is characterized by the formation of aristolactam DNA adducts leading to mutation...

Aristolochic acid: the common culprit of Chinese herbs nephropathy and Balkan endemic nephropathy.

Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN) is a devastating tubulointerstitial kidney disease affecting men and women living in rural areas of Bosnia–Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Serbia [1]. The disease occurs exclusively in farming villages situated in valleys of the Danube River and its tributaries. Since its first description in 1956, the geographic distribution as well as other epidemi...

Aristolochic Acid as a Risk Factor for Balkan Endemic Nephropathy

Division of Molecular Toxicology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany Section of Molecular Carcinogenesis, Institute of Cancer Research, Cotswold Road, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5NG, UK Institute of Pathology, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia Department of Biochemistry, Charles University, Prague, The Czech Republic Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Toulouse, Laborat...

Human and Experimental Features of Aristolochic Acid Nephropathy (aan; Formerly Chinese Herbs Nephropathy - Chn): Are They Relevant to Balkan Endemic Nephropathy (ben)?

Chinese herbs nephropathy, a rapidly progressive interstitial nephropathy, has been reported in young Belgian women given a slimming regimen including Chinese herbs. It is characterized by early, severe anemia, mild tubular proteinuria, and normal arterial blood pressure. Renal histology shows an extensive, remarkably aor hypocellular interstitial fibrosis associated with tubular atrophy and gl...

NEPHROPATHY CAUSED BY CHINESE HERBS IN IRAN