Focal segmental glomerular sclerosis (FSGS) is a major renal complication of mitochondrial (mt) cytopathies. The present study was designed to investigate the possibility of mtDNA lesion accumulation in podocytes, which are a primary pathogenic site of FSGS, during the development of glomerulopathy in puromycin aminonucleoside nephrosis (PAN). Two renal pathological phases of PAN, nephrosis pha...

Physiological studies (1-4) have indicated that increased glomerular permeability is the major cause of proteinuria in human and experimental nephrosis, but the ultrastructural basis for such protein leakage is poorly understood. Previous morphological studies using ferritin (tool wt 500,000) (5, 6) have shown that the glomerular basement membrane becomes more permeable to this particle in expe...

Nephrotic syndrome in minimal change lipoid nephrosis and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis may be due to alteration of glomerular anionic sites by a lymphokine. Six adults with nephrotic syndrome who were resistant to treatment with corticosteroids and immunosuppressants were treated with cyclosporin A. In three patients with minimal change lipoid nephrosis who had been nephrotic for 3.5 to 2...

The foot processes forming the slit diaphragm are disrupted in diseases associated with proteinuria. Although they are often repairable, regulators for the repairing process remain unknown. By extrapolating from the fact that vitamin A is essential for the nephrogenesis, this study examined whether or not injured podocytes in the middle of the repairing process require retinaldehyde dehydrogena...

How a boy of 10 developed nephrosis more than 60 years ago, how he came to be seen by Sir Frederic Still with interesting later consequences, how his nephrosis cleared following measles, and how all this led to his becoming a distinguished paediatrician is told in a case history based on the diary kept by the boy's mother.

When nephrosis was recognized as a clinical entity, an increased concentration of serum cholesterol was observed to be a consistent feature of the syndrome (1). Later it was found that phospholipid and triglyceride also are increased in nephrosis (2-5). The increase in serum lipids in nephrosis is usually greatest in the cases with the lowest levels of serum albumin. It has not been established...

BACKGROUND The slit diaphragm (SD) is a complex of podocyte-specific proteins and plays a significant role in glomerular filtration. To understand podocyte biology, it is important to determine the expression amount of the SD complex proteins. This study aimed to quantify the absolute amount of nephrin, which is believed to be a major component of SD, in podocytes and to apply that method to no...

Statins have been reported to confer renoprotection in several experimental models of renal disease through pleiotropic actions. The roles of statins in glomerular podocytes have not been explored. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of fluvastatin on podocyte and tubulointerstitial injury in puromycin aminonucleoside (PAN)-induced nephrosis. PAN induced massive proteinuria ...

Two hundred and seven albino rats were injected subcutaneously with alloxan in doses varying from 140 to 200 mg. per cent per kilo of body weight. Fifty-nine animals which developed hyperglycemia (blood sugar levels above 150 mg. per cent) were observed for periods from 5 days to 32 weeks. Postmortem examination of the kidneys of these diabetic animals revealed glycogen deposition in the loops ...

Experimental renal disease was produced in young rats by daily subcutaneous injections of 6-dimethylamino purine, 3-amino-d-ribose (aminonucleoside). The physiologic, biochemical, and light microscopic changes were similar to those observed in human nephrosis. Electron microscopy of the glomeruli from animals which received seven or more daily injections of aminonucleoside revealed characterist...