|
Glomerulosclerosis
Glomerulosclerosis is the hardening of the glomeruli in the kidney. It is a general term to describe scarring of the kidneys' tiny blood vessels, the glomeruli, the functional units in the kidney that filter urea from the blood. Proteinuria (large amounts of protein in the urine) is one of the signs of glomerulosclerosis. Scarring disturbs the filtering process of the kidneys and allows protein to leak from the blood into the urine. However, glomerulosclerosis is one of many causes of proteinuria. A kidney biopsy (the removal of a tiny part of the kidney with a needle) may be necessary to determine whether a patient has glomerulosclerosis or another kidney problem. About 15 percent of people with proteinuria turn out to have glomerulosclerosis. Both children and adults can develop glomerulosclerosis, which can result in different types of kidney conditions. One frequently encountered type of glomerulosclerosis is caused by diabetes. Drug use or infections may cause focal segmental ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis
Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is a histopathologic finding of scarring (sclerosis) of glomeruli and damage to renal podocytes.Rosenberg, Avi Z.; Kopp, Jeffrey B. (2017-03-07). "Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis". ''Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology''. 12 (3): 502–517. doi:10.2215/CJN.05960616. ISSN 1555-9041. PMC 5338705. PMID 28242845.D'Agati V. The many masks of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Kidney Int. 1994 Oct;46(4):1223-41. doi: 10.1038/ki.1994.388. . This process damages the filtration function of the kidney, resulting in protein loss in the urine. FSGS is a leading cause of excess protein loss—nephrotic syndrome—in children and adults.Kitiyakara C, Eggers P, Kopp JB. Twenty-one-year trend in ESRD due to focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in the United States. Am J Kidney Dis. 2004 Nov;44(5):815-25. . Signs and symptoms include proteinuria, water retention, and edema.Rydel JJ, Korbet SM, Borok RZ, Schwartz MM. Focal segmental gl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diabetic Nephropathy
Diabetic nephropathy, also known as diabetic kidney disease, is the chronic loss of kidney function occurring in those with diabetes mellitus. Diabetic nephropathy is the leading causes of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) globally. The triad of protein leaking into the urine (proteinuria or albuminuria), rising blood pressure with hypertension and then falling renal function is common to many forms of CKD. Protein loss in the urine due to damage of the glomeruli may become massive, and cause a low serum albumin with resulting generalized body swelling (edema) so called nephrotic syndrome. Likewise, the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) may progressively fall from a normal of over 90 ml/min/1.73m2 to less than 15, at which point the patient is said to have end-stage renal disease. It usually is slowly progressive over years. Pathophysiologic abnormalities in diabetic nephropathy usually begin with long-standing poorly controlled blood ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glomerulus (kidney)
The glomerulus (plural glomeruli) is a network of small blood vessels (capillaries) known as a ''tuft'', located at the beginning of a nephron in the kidney. Each of the two kidneys contains about one million nephrons. The tuft is structurally supported by the mesangium (the space between the blood vessels), composed of intraglomerular mesangial cells. The blood is filtered across the capillary walls of this tuft through the glomerular filtration barrier, which yields its filtrate of water and soluble substances to a cup-like sac known as Bowman's capsule. The filtrate then enters the renal tubule of the nephron. The glomerulus receives its blood supply from an afferent arteriole of the renal arterial circulation. Unlike most capillary beds, the glomerular capillaries exit into efferent arterioles rather than venules. The resistance of the efferent arterioles causes sufficient hydrostatic pressure within the glomerulus to provide the force for ultrafiltration. The glomeru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proteinuria
Proteinuria is the presence of excess proteins in the urine. In healthy persons, urine contains very little protein; an excess is suggestive of illness. Excess protein in the urine often causes the urine to become foamy (although this symptom may also be caused by other conditions). Severe proteinuria can cause nephrotic syndrome in which there is worsening swelling of the body. Signs and symptoms Proteinuria often causes no symptoms and it may only be discovered incidentally. Foamy urine is considered a cardinal sign of proteinuria, but only a third of people with foamy urine have proteinuria as the underlying cause. It may also be caused by bilirubin in the urine ( bilirubinuria), retrograde ejaculation, pneumaturia (air bubbles in the urine) due to a fistula, or drugs such as pyridium. Causes There are three main mechanisms to cause proteinuria: * Due to disease in the glomerulus * Because of increased quantity of proteins in serum (overflow proteinuria) * Due to low r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renal Biopsy
Renal biopsy (also kidney biopsy) is a medical procedure in which a small piece of kidney is removed from the body for examination, usually under a microscope. Microscopic examination of the tissue can provide information needed to diagnose, monitor or treat problems of the kidney. A renal biopsy can be targeted to a particular lesion, for example a tumour arising from the kidney (targeted renal biopsy). More commonly, however, the biopsy is non-targeted as medical conditions affecting the kidney typically involve all kidney tissue indiscriminately. In the latter situation, any sufficiently sized piece of kidney tissue can be used. A native renal biopsy is one in which the patient's own kidneys are biopsied. In a transplant renal biopsy, the kidney of another person that has been transplanted into the patient is biopsied. Transplant kidney biopsy can be performed when nothing is apparently wrong with the transplant kidney for the purposes of surveillance for hidden disease (proto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Immunosuppressive Drug
Immunosuppressive drugs, also known as immunosuppressive agents, immunosuppressants and antirejection medications, are drugs that inhibit or prevent activity of the immune system. Classification Immunosuppressive drugs can be classified into five groups: * glucocorticoids * cytostatics * antibodies * drugs acting on immunophilins * other drugs Glucocorticoids In pharmacologic (supraphysiologic) doses, glucocorticoids, such as prednisone, dexamethasone, and hydrocortisone are used to suppress various allergic, inflammatory, and autoimmune disorders. They are also administered as posttransplantory immunosuppressants to prevent the acute transplant rejection and graft-versus-host disease. Nevertheless, they do not prevent an infection and also inhibit later reparative processes. Immunosuppressive mechanism Glucocorticoids suppress cell-mediated immunity. They act by inhibiting genes that code for the cytokines Interleukin 1 (IL-1), IL-2, IL-3, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nephrology
Nephrology (from Greek'' nephros'' "kidney", combined with the suffix ''-logy'', "the study of") is a specialty of adult internal medicine and pediatric medicine that concerns the study of the kidneys, specifically normal kidney function ( renal physiology) and kidney disease (renal pathophysiology), the preservation of kidney health, and the treatment of kidney disease, from diet and medication to renal replacement therapy ( dialysis and kidney transplantation). The word “ renal” is an adjective meaning “relating to the kidneys”, and its roots are French or late Latin. Whereas according to some opinions, "renal" and "nephro" should be replaced with "kidney" in scientific writings such as "kidney medicine" (instead of nephrology) or "kidney replacement therapy", other experts have advocated preserving the use of renal and nephro as appropriate including in "nephrology" and "renal replacement therapy", respectively. Nephrology also studies systemic conditions that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kidney
The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood exits into the paired renal veins. Each kidney is attached to a ureter, a tube that carries excreted urine to the bladder. The kidney participates in the control of the volume of various body fluids, fluid osmolality, acid–base balance, various electrolyte concentrations, and removal of toxins. Filtration occurs in the glomerulus: one-fifth of the blood volume that enters the kidneys is filtered. Examples of substances reabsorbed are solute-free water, sodium, bicarbonate, glucose, and amino acids. Examples of substances secreted are hydrogen, ammonium, potassium and uric acid. The nephron is the structural and functional unit of the kidney. Each adult human kidney contains around 1 million nephrons, while a mouse kidney con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BK Virus
The BK virus is a member of the polyomavirus family. Past infection with the BK virus is widespread, but significant consequences of infection are uncommon, with the exception of the immunocompromised and the immunosuppressed. BK virus is an abbreviation of the name of the first patient, from whom the virus was isolated in 1971 (the patient was then 29 years old). Signs and symptoms The BK virus rarely causes disease but is typically associated with patients who have had a kidney transplant; many people who are infected with this virus are asymptomatic. If symptoms do appear, they tend to be mild: respiratory infection or fever. These are known as primary BK infections. Although without any clinical symptoms, footprints of BK virus have been detected in specimens from females affected by spontaneous abortion. Serum antibodies against BK virus have also been found in spontaneous abortion affected women as well as in women who underwent voluntary interruption of pregnancy. The v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epstein–Barr Virus Infection
There are several forms of Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infection. These include asymptomatic infections, the primary infection, infectious mononucleosis, and the progression of asymptomatic or primary infections to: 1) any one of various Epstein–Barr virus-associated lymphoproliferative diseases such as chronic active EBV infection, EBV+ hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, Burkitt's lymphoma, and Epstein–Barr virus positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified); 2) non-lymphoid cancers such as Epstein–Barr virus associated gastric cancer, soft tissue sarcomas, leiomyosarcoma, and nasopharyngeal cancers; and 3) Epstein–Barr virus-associated non-lymphoproliferative diseases such as some cases of the immune disorders of multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosis and the childhood disorders of Alice in Wonderland Syndrome and acute cerebellar ataxia. Symptoms Symptoms of infectious mononucleosis are fever, sore throat, and swollen lymph gland ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
