Thursday, January 22, 2009

Nephritis and Chronic Urticaria

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Definition of Nephritis: Inflammation of the kidney. Nephritis can be acute or chronic.

Acute nephritis is most commonly caused by hypersensitivity (allergy) to drug therapy. Recognition of a drug-related cause is important because severe renal damage is often preventable or reversible. The most frequent drugs involved include analgesics (e.g., acetaminophen and aspirin), cyclosporine and tacrolimus (immunosuppressants used in transplantation and treatment of some autoimmune disorders), anti-cancer drugs (e.g., cisplatin; nitrosoureas; rarely, carboplatin), and lithium (for depressive disease). Sarcoidosis, Legionella, leptospirosis, Streptococcus, and viral infections, and certain Chinese herbs may also be responsible for acute nephritis.

Chronic nephritis can similarly be due to a very large number of causes, including drug hypersensitivity, autoimmunity, infections, radiation of the kidney, obstruction of the urinary tract, hypertension (high blood pressure is a very well known cause of chronic nephritis), sickle cell disease, and polycystic disease of the kidney.

Nephritis also results from metabolic and toxic disorders, including the deposition of urates (uric acid) in the kidney, hypercalcemia (high blood calcium) with deposition of calcium in the kidney, chronic lead intoxication, and cadmium toxicity.

8 comments:

  1. Key Words

    Hypocomplementemic urticarial vasculitis
    Membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis
    Membranous nephropathy
    Steroid therapy

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    Abstract

    A 49-year-old-man developed proteinuria in 1978. He was diagnosed as having membranous nephropathy by renal biopsy and was treated with prednisolone. The proteinuria disappeared completely and the treatment was stopped. In 1995, after complete remission, he developed nephrotic syndrome with chronic urticaria and hypocomplementemia. Renal biopsy revealed membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (type I) and skin biopsy showed leukocytoclastic vasculitis, which was compatible with hypocomplementemic vasculitis syndrome. Steroid therapy was very effective.

    Copyright © 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel


    Membranoproliferative Glomerulonephritis Associated with Hypocomplementemic Urticarial Vasculitis after Complete Remission of Membranous Nephropathy

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