Drug-Induced Acute Interstitial Nephritis with Nifedipine

Background. Acute interstitial nephritis (AIN) is a frequent cause of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI). Drug hypersensitivity is the most common etiology and the list of drugs that can induce AIN is not exhaustive yet. Case Report. Here, we describe the case of a 43-year-old man who was treated with nifedipine (Adalate®) for Raynaud's syndrome. After nifedipine introduction, serum creatininemia progressively increased from 91 to 188 μmol/L in a few months and AKI was diagnosed. Laboratory work-up results indicated the presence of tubular proteinuria and nonspecific inflammatory syndrome. Histological analysis found granulomatous interstitial nephropathy without necrosis in 20% of the kidney biopsy without immunofluorescent deposit. Nifedipine was stopped and corticosteroid treatment was started with a rapid but incomplete reduction of serum creatininemia level to 106 μmol/L. Conclusion. This is the first case of AIN caused by nifedipine.