Cyclosporin and the Glomerular Filtration Barrier in Minimal Change Disease and Membranous Glomerulopathy

Author(s):  
R. Zietse ◽  
F. H. M. Derkx ◽  
M. A. D. H. Schalekamp ◽  
W. Weimar
Author(s):  
Patrick Niaudet ◽  
Alain Meyrier

Minimal change disease is the most common cause of nephrotic syndrome in childhood but is not rare in adults. The factors altering permeability of the glomerular filtration barrier are not known, but podocyte structure is significantly altered in the condition and it seems certain that this cell is the target of whatever factors are responsible for the condition. It is still not clear that it is immunologically mediated and many of the agents used to treat it have direct effects on the podocyte. The differential diagnosis includes any other disease causing nephrotic syndrome, and a renal biopsy narrows this down. In children, steroid unresponsiveness is often used as a diagnostic test, and consideration of genetic or other pathologies reserved for patients who show no or poor steroid responsiveness.


1992 ◽  
Vol 82 (6) ◽  
pp. 641-650 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Zietse ◽  
Gerrit J. Wenting ◽  
Pieter Kramer ◽  
Maarten A. Schalekamp ◽  
Willem Weimar

1. To elucidate the mechanisms by which cyclosporin A diminishes proteinuria, we studied 20 patients with severe nephrotic syndrome. Biopsy-established pathologies included minimal change disease (n = 5), membranous glomerulopathy (n = 6), membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (n = 5) and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (n = 4). Before, at the end of a 90 day course of cyclosporin A, and finally 1 month after stopping cyclosporin A we determined 24 h protein excretion. Measurements of glomerular filtration rate, effective renal plasma flow, fractional clearance rates of albumin and immunoglobulins with different charges and the transglomerular sieving of uncharged dextrans of broad size distribution were used to study the effects of cyclosporin A on renal perfusion and the glomerular filtration barrier. The findings were analysed with a theoretical model of solute transport. 2. Among the different forms of glomerulopathy the response to low-dose cyclosporin A (trough levels 32.0–36.9 ng/ml) varied markedly. In minimal change disease, proteinuria decreased from 9.5 ± 3.1 to 1.3 ± 0.2 g/24 h (mean ± sem, P < 0.01). This response was due to restoration of the charge selectivity of the glomerular barrier. The depressed value of the glomerular permeability coefficient also returned to normal. Glomerular filtration rate, effective renal plasma flow and renal vascular resistance did not change. Proteinuria returned after stopping cyclosporin A, although it did not reach pretreatment levels. In membranous glomerulopathy, proteinuria fell from 9.9 ± 1.5 to 1.8 ± 0.3 g/24 h (P < 0.01). Changes in protein excretion and dextran sieving were compatible with an increase in glomerular permselectivity and a decrease in filtrate flow through the ‘shunt’ pathway. Glomerular filtration rate was maintained, although effective renal plasma flow fell significantly. Proteinuria relapsed after stopping cyclosporin A. In membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis proteinuria did not respond to cyclosporin A, although cyclosporin A exerted important haemodynamic effects. 3. In minimal change disease and membranous glomerulopathy cyclosporin A exerts its beneficial effects on proteinuria through changes in the properties of the glomerular barrier, resulting in increased charge and size selectivity, respectively.


Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1815
Author(s):  
Jan Boeckhaus ◽  
Oliver Gross

Hereditary diseases of the glomerular filtration barrier are characterized by a more vulnerable glomerular basement membrane and dysfunctional podocytes. Recent clinical trials have demonstrated the nephroprotective effect of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) in chronic kidney disease (CKD). SGLT2-mediated afferent arteriole vasoconstriction is hypothesized to correct the hemodynamic overload of the glomerular filtration barrier in hereditary podocytopathies. To test this hypothesis, we report data in a case series of patients with Alport syndrome and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) with respect of the early effect of SGLT2i on the kidney function. Mean duration of treatment was 4.5 (±2.9) months. Mean serum creatinine before and after SGLT-2i initiation was 1.46 (±0.42) and 1.58 (±0.55) mg/dL, respectively, with a median estimated glomerular filtration rate of 64 (±27) before and 64 (±32) mL/min/1.73 m2 after initiation of SGLT2i. Mean urinary albumin-creatinine ratio in mg/g creatinine before SGLT-2i initiation was 1827 (±1560) and decreased by almost 40% to 1127 (±854) after SGLT2i initiation. To our knowledge, this is the first case series on the effect and safety of SGLT2i in patients with hereditary podocytopathies. Specific large-scale trials in podocytopathies are needed to confirm our findings in this population with a tremendous unmet medical need for more effective, early on, and safe nephroprotective therapies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cleo C. L. van Aanhold ◽  
Manon Bos ◽  
Katrina M. Mirabito Colafella ◽  
Marie-Louise P. van der Hoorn ◽  
Ron Wolterbeek ◽  
...  

AbstractThe endothelial glycoprotein thrombomodulin regulates coagulation, vascular inflammation and apoptosis. In the kidney, thrombomodulin protects the glomerular filtration barrier by eliciting crosstalk between the glomerular endothelium and podocytes. Several glomerular pathologies are characterized by a loss of glomerular thrombomodulin. In women with pre-eclampsia, serum levels of soluble thrombomodulin are increased, possibly reflecting a loss from the glomerular endothelium. We set out to investigate whether thrombomodulin expression is decreased in the kidneys of women with pre-eclampsia and rats exposed to an angiogenesis inhibitor. Thrombomodulin expression was examined using immunohistochemistry and qPCR in renal autopsy tissues collected from 11 pre-eclamptic women, 22 pregnant controls and 11 hypertensive non-pregnant women. Further, kidneys from rats treated with increasing doses of sunitinib or sunitinib in combination with endothelin receptor antagonists were studied. Glomerular thrombomodulin protein levels were increased in the kidneys of women with pre-eclampsia. In parallel, in rats exposed to sunitinib, glomerular thrombomodulin was upregulated in a dose-dependent manner, and the upregulation of glomerular thrombomodulin preceded the onset of histopathological changes. Selective ETAR blockade, but not dual ETA/BR blockade, normalised the sunitinib-induced increase in thrombomodulin expression and albuminuria. We propose that glomerular thrombomodulin expression increases at an early stage of renal damage induced by antiangiogenic conditions. The upregulation of this nephroprotective protein in glomerular endothelial cells might serve as a mechanism to protect the glomerular filtration barrier in pre-eclampsia.


2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 1533-1543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Jones ◽  
Laura A. New ◽  
Megan A. Fortino ◽  
Vera Eremina ◽  
Julie Ruston ◽  
...  

Hypertension ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 60 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Torsten Kirsch ◽  
Jessica Kaufeld ◽  
Ron Korstanje ◽  
Dirk Hentschel ◽  
Hermann Haller ◽  
...  

The bioavailability of nitric oxide (NO) has been associated with the development and progression of vascular and renal disease. NOSTRIN (for eNOS Traffic Inducer) has primarily been recognized as one important regulator of eNOS, the prime source of NO in the cardiovascular system, with a possible role in the pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia and the development of increased intrahepatic resistance in liver disease. Here, we identified NOSTRIN in the center of a QTL-overlap region in rat and human trait loci that are associated with hypertension. Glomerular NOSTRIN expression is detectable in podocytes in human and rat glomeruli and podocytic NOSTRIN expression is diminished in hypertensive kidney disease. We show that knockdown of NOSTRIN alters the glomerular filtration barrier function in larval zebrafish, inducing proteinuria and leading to ultrastructural morphological changes on the endothelial as well as epithelial side and the GBM of the glomerular capillary loop. We also demonstrate that NOSTRIN interacts with proteins associated with the podocyte slit membrane. We conclude that NOSTRIN expression is an important factor for the integrity of the glomerular filtration barrier. Disease related alteration of NOSTRIN expression may not only affect the vascular endothelium and therefore contribute to endothelial cell dysfunction but may also contribute to the development of podocyte disease and proteinuria.


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