Glomerular and tubulointerstitial foscarnet nephropathy of kidney allograft with emphasis on ultrastructural findings: A case report.

Introduction: Foscarnet (trisodium phosphonoformate hexahydrate) is standard treatment for ganciclovir-resistant cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections. In the kidney, foscarnet-induced injury may be attributed to reversible tubulointerstitial lesions, but foscarnet crystals have also been observed within glomerular capillaries, suggesting that foscarnet can lead to glomerular lesions such as crescentic glomerulonephritis. We present biopsy and autopsy findings of foscarnet induced nephropathy in a transplanted kidney, with a particular emphasis on the histopathology and electron micrographic peculiarities of drug crystal deposits.

Treatment of antibody-mediated rejection of kidney grafts with bortezomib and/or rituximab compared to standard regimen: experience of Slovene National Center.

Background: The aim of our study was to determine outcomes of standard treatment of antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR) of kidney grafts as compared to the addition of bortezomib or rituximab.

Methods: The cohort of this retrospective study included patients treated for ABMR of kidney grafts at our national center in the period of 2005 - 2017, divided into two groups: standard (ST) group treated standardly with plasmapheresis or immunoadsorption, intravenous immunoglobulins, and corticosteroids, and BR group treated with the addition of bortezomib and/or rituximab. Patient and graft survival at 2 years was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method, and predictors of graft survival were analyzed by Cox regression.

Rituximab for the treatment of membranous nephropathy: a single-center experience.

Background: Treatment of idiopathic membranous nephropathy with rituximab was introduced more than a decade ago following experimental data that suggested involvement of B-cell-mediated reactions in its pathogenesis. It was a logical step towards a more selective therapy with less severe side effects as compared to the recommended first-line immunosuppressive therapy with corticosteroids and different immunosuppressant drugs.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the anonymous data of patients who were treated with rituximab for idiopathic membranous nephropathy at our institution from January 2006 to July 2016.

Outcome of polyomavirus nephropathy in renal transplant patients: a single-center experience.

Background: Reduction of immunosuppression is a common therapeutic strategy in patients with polyomavirus nephropathy (PVN) but may be associated with acute rejection. This study aimed to evaluate the morphology of PVN in renal biopsies after reduction of immunosuppression.

Methods: Eight of 241 patients who received a kidney transplant between January 2012 and December 2015 presented with BK viremia and biopsy-proven PVN.

Increase in spot urine protein excretion is associated with late kidney graft rejection and predicts rejection phenotype.

Aims: A noninvasive test that foretells kidney graft rejection before loss of kidney function would be desirable. We hypothesized that an increase in estimated protein excretion rate (ePER) from spot urine samples is associated with graft rejection and predicts rejection phenotype.

Methods: 151 patients who had undergone first-indication kidney biopsy due to graft dysfunction beyond 3 months after transplant were identified from a national cohort of 616 transplant recipients between 2000 and 2012 (25%).