UNLABELLED Lupus nephritis is one of the most serious manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). African Americans generally have a more severe presentation and more often progress to end stage renal disease (ESRD) than Caucasians. Several studies point to higher creatinine, low complement levels, thrombocytopenia, anemia, hypertension, and proliferative glomerulonephritis as predict...

INTRODUCTION Autoantibodies against C1q correlate with lupus nephritis. We compared titers of anti-C1q and anti-dsDNA in 70 systemic lupus erythematosus patients with (n = 15) or without (n = 55) subsequent biopsy-proven lupus nephritis. METHODS The 15 patients with subsequent lupus nephritis had anti-C1q assays during clinical flares (mean Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index ...

Severe lupus nephritis is an aggressive disease that requires an aggressive approach to treatment. Recent randomized clinical trials showed that mycophenolate mofetil compared favorably with cyclophosphamide (traditional approach) for remission induction. Consequently, mycophenolate mofetil is now commonly recommended as first-line therapy. Nevertheless, the role of mycophenolate mofetil in tre...

Chemokines are instrumental in macrophage- and T cell-dependent diseases. The chemokine CCL2 promotes kidney disease in two models of immune-mediated nephritis (MRL-Fas(lpr) mice and the nephrotoxic serum nephritis model), but evidence suggests that multiple chemokines are involved. For identification of additional therapeutic targets for immune-mediated nephritis, chemokine ligands and recepto...

In 7 years (1981-1988) at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), Nairobi the diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) was made in 67 patients. In 23 of these patients lupus nephritis complicated the SLE. Lupus nephritis was diagnosed through renal biopsy, haematuria and proteinuria in urine with positive lupus erythematosus (LE) cell phenomenon. The histology found in these patients inclu...

Lupus nephritis, which has various histological patterns and variable clinical outcomes, is one of the most important complications of systemic lupus nephritis (SLE). This pathogenetic mechanism in each histologically different type of lupus nephritis (LN) remains unclear. Although SLE is suggested to be a Th2-driven disease, elevation of both Th1 and Th2 cytokines occurs in both humans and mic...

Recruitment of leukocytes is a characteristic feature of tissue injury in systemic lupus erythematosus, including lupus nephritis. Locally secreted chemokines and their receptors are important mediators of leukocyte recruitment to the specific sites of immune complex injury, and contribute to renal inflammatory disease in the initiation and progression phase. Therefore, chemokines and chemokine...

The treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) nephritis, while effective, is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. These side effects could be mitigated if the onset, severity, and response of renal flare could be predicted, and therapy modified accordingly. In this review, an approach to derive prediction equations of SLE nephritis flare is discussed. Integral to generatin...

1. In experimental nephritis caused by cantharidin, arsenic, diphtheria toxin, and potassium chromate, in addition to the retention of the non-protein and urea nitrogen and of the chlorides in blood, an acidosis occurs. 2. Sodium bicarbonate given by the stomach has the power of diminishing the acidosis in these types of nephritis. 3. The degree of increase in the non-protein and urea nitrogen ...

Reference 1. Reddy PS, Legault HM, Sypek JP, Collins MJ, Goad E, Goldman SJ, Liu W, Murray S, Dorner AJ, O’Toole M: Mapping similarities in mTOR pathway perturbations in mouse lupus nephritis models and human lupus nephritis. Arthritis Res Ther 2008, 10:R127. Correction Correction: Mapping similarities in mTOR pathway perturbations in mouse lupus nephritis models and human lupus nephritis Padma...