Urinary retinol-binding protein as a prognostic marker in glomerulopathies.

Tubulointerstitial involvement seems to have a decisive influence on the progression of glomerular diseases. We have prospectively evaluated the levels of urinary retinol-binding protein (urRBP), a marker of proximal tubular dysfunction, in patients with different glomerulopathies (GPs) and correlated these levels with disease progression. By studying 238 patients with GPs, we found that urRBP tend to be lower in minimal change disease, glomerular hematuria and poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis as compared to focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, membranous nephropathy and membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis.

Urinary retinol-binding protein as a prognostic marker in the treatment of nephrotic syndrome.

We studied the urinary levels of retinol-binding protein (urRBP), an index of proximal tubular dysfunction, in patients with nephrotic syndrome before and approximately 2 months after the beginning of steroid therapy as a predictor of response to therapy which included for some patients courses of immunosuppressive drugs. Those patients with minimal-change disease, mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis, and focal-segmental glomerulosclerosis who had normal pretreatment urRBP levels were responsive to treatment; occasionally, responsive patients had an initially elevated urRBP level which normalized during treatment. Contrariwise, those patients with abnormally high levels of urRBP which did not normalize during treatment did not respond to treatment.

Idiopathic focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and HLA antigens.

The objective of the present study was to investigate a possible association between HLA class II antigens and idiopathic focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). HLA-A, -B, -DR and -DQ antigens were determined in 19 Brazilian patients (16 white subjects and three subjects of Japanese origin) with biopsy-proven FSGS. Comparison of the HLA antigen frequencies between white patients and white local controls showed a significant increase in HLA-DR4 frequency among FSGS patients (37.

Effect of the antiglucocorticoid RU-486 on glomerular hemodynamics in remnant nephrons.

Endogenous glucocorticoid (GC) has been proposed to play a role in the adaptive functions of remnant nephron and participates in the progression of renal disease. The effect of GC blockade by RU-486 (20 mg/kg), an anti-GC agent, on the progression of chronic renal failure (CRF) was evaluated in Munich-Wistar rats. CRF was induced by 5/6 nephrectomy.