An algorithmic approach to interpreting renal pathology, updated in light of recent advances in understanding and new classification schemes.

This is a book about renal cysts and cystic kidneys. Its contributors have created a resource of current information in a field that once aroused only curiosity, but that now stands at the leading edge of molecular nephrology. Its authorship includes 'oldtimers', who bring the wisdom of experience, and 'newcomers', whose presence attests to the contributions made by the investigative and technological advances of the past decade. Its text is organized to carry the reader from renal cyst to cystic renal disease. Each of its chapters defines or explores a challenge or an advance. Cells that line renal cysts are diverse in structure, type, and perhaps function. The cysts themselves lie within an interstitium that is not normal and may influence cyst development and growth. Experimental analogs of human disease offer increasing opportunities to basic researchers to examine, in sequence and under controlled circumstances, those events that favor nephron dilation, cyst growth and ultimate renal failure.

Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) is a highly prevalent hereditary renal disorder in which fluid-filled cysts are appeared in both kidneys. Main causative genes of ADPKD are PKD1 and PKD2, encoding for polycystin-1 (PC1) and polycystin-2 (PC2) respectively. Those proteins are localized on primary cilia and function as mechanosensor in response to the fluid flow, translating mechanistic stimuli into calcium signaling. With mutations either of PKD1 or PKD2, hyper-activated renal tubular epithelial cell proliferation is observed, followed by disrupted calcium homeostasis and aberrant intracellular cyclic AMP (cAMP) accumulation. Increased cell proliferation with fluid secretion leads to the development of thousands of epithelial-lined, fluid-filled cysts in kidneys. It is also accompanied by interstitial inflammation, fibrosis, and finally reaching end-stage renal disease (ESRD). In human ADPKD, the age at which renal failure typically occurs is later in life, however no specific targeted medications are available to cure ADPKD. Recently, potential therapeutic targets or surrogate diagnostic biomarkers for ADPKD are proposed with the advances in the understanding of ADPKD pathogenesis, and some of them were attempted for clinical trials. Herein, we will summarize genetic and epi-genetic molecular mechanisms in ADPKD progression, and overview the currently available biomarkers or potential therapeutic reagents suggested.

Here is an extensive update of Pediatric Nephrology, which has become the standard reference text in the field. It is global in perspective and reflects the international group of editors, who are well-recognized experts in pediatric nephrology. Within this text, the development of kidney structure and function is followed by detailed and comprehensive chapters on all childhood kidney diseases.

This manual will meet the everyday needs of the wide range of medical professionals who play a role in the treatment of children referred to hospital because of renal disease. It is an easy-to-use, portable guide that will assist pediatricians, residents, and trainees in making prompt first-level management decisions. It will also prove invaluable for the adult nephrologists who care for children in many developing countries, and will serve as a teaching guide for experts when training non-subspecialists. Individual sections are devoted to the evaluation of renal disease; fluid, electrolyte, and acid-base disorders; glomerular diseases; tubular disorders; congenital, inherited, and urological disorders; consequences of renal disease; and miscellaneous topics. The text is in a bulleted format with tables and algorithms wherever possible, making it straightforward and easy to read. An appendix includes further important information such as normal values, drug dosages, and drug nephrotoxicity.

This publication provides a synopsis of the rapid progress made in the field of renal cell biology during the last decade, progress which has resulted in a better conceptual understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms of fibrotic renal disease. These developments have provided new therapeutic choices and led to the discovery of gene-based therapeutic options. The topics covered in this book have been carefully selected from the immense number of aspects of the disease to provide essential information on the molecular basis of renal fibrosis. Individual chapters discuss topics such as proteinuria and tubulointerstitial injury, the roles and regulation of TGF-beta, chemokines, oxidant stress, matrix remodeling, significance of renal expression of NF-kappa, and the potential impact of cell death in renal fibrosis.Written so as to present the complex information as simply as possible, this publication will be a very useful tool for general health professionals involved in the fields of immunology and cell biology, as well as for clinicians and researchers within the fields of nephrology, pathology and matrix biology.

This volume focuses on the investigatory methods applied to autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), one of the most common human genetic diseases. ADPKD is caused by mutations in PKD1 and TRPP2, two integral membrane proteins that function as receptor/ion channels in primary cilia of tubular epithelial cells. Thus, ADPKD belongs to ciliopathies, a group of disorders caused by abnormal cilia formation or function. This proposed book will cover the state-of-the-art methods ranging from molecular biology, biochemistry, electrophysiology, to tools in model animal studies. Key Features Explores the role of cilia in polycystic kidney disease Focuses on myriad state-of-the-art methods and techniques Reviews specific mutations integral to this autosomal genetic disease Includes discussions of model systems