Unexpectedly High Prevalence of Low Alpha-Galactosidase A Enzyme Activity in Patients with Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis.

Objectives: Fabry disease (FD) is a rare disease associated with sphingolipid accumulation. Sphingolipids are components of plasma membranes that are important in podocyte function and accumulate in various glomerular diseases such as focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). Both FD and FSGS can cause podocyte damage and are classified as podocytopathies.

Prognostic significance of NGAL in early stage chronic kidney disease.

Background: Neutrophilgelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) has been proven to be a useful biomarker for early detection of acute kidney injury, but it is not known whether adding NGAL measurements to conventional risk factors will improve the risk assessment in the setting of chronic kidney disease (CKD). The aim of the present study was to examine the correlation of NGAL with early stage renal impairment in CKD and to evaluate its prognostic value in these subjects.

Methods: This is a prospective observational cohort study of 54 patients with early stage (stage 1-2) CKD.