Kidney disease in patients with obesity: It is not always obesity-related glomerulopathy alone.

Objective: Patients with obesity are at risk for chronic kidney disease. The aim is to characterize the spectrum of kidney disease in these patients, which may be related to obesity, termed obesity-related glomerulopathy (ORG), or may have other diseases secondary to associated or unassociated medical conditions.

Methods: Native kidney biopsies from 2000 to 2012 were retrospectively reviewed from all patients with body mass index >30kg/m.

Bortezomib therapy for nephrotic syndrome due to idiopathic membranous nephropathy.

Idiopathic membranous nephropathy is a common cause of nephrotic syndrome in adults. The nephrotic syndrome due to idiopathic membranous nephropathy is often resistant to glucocorticosteroids and requires an alkylating agent such as chlorambucil or cyclophosphamide to induce remission. Recent studies illustrate that antibodies against the autoantigen M-type phospholipase A2 receptor contribute to a vast majority but not all cases of idiopathic membranous nephropathy.

Nucleosome effects on mesangial cell matrix and proliferation: a possible role in early lupus nephritis.

Background: Oligonucleosomes (ON) have been demonstrated in the circulation and biopsies of lupus nephritis patients. Their presence as immune complexes is an early and persistent finding in lupus nephritis as are changes in mesangial matrix. Since ON competitively bind to glomerular mesangial cells (MC) in a receptor-like fashion, the purpose of our study was to investigate what effects ON have on MC matrix and proliferation.