Drug-induced autoimmune diseases of the kidney include SLE-like disease and drug-induced vasculitis (DIV). As many as 10% of all diagnosed Lupus cases in the US may be drug-induced Lupus (DIL). These syndromes typically develop after drug treatment for…
Take-home points from Mayo Clinic’s Fernando Fervenza’s excellent Renal Grand Rounds this morning, in which he addresses the potential use of rituximab as a treatment for membranous nephropathy: -the “rule of thirds” that we learn about membranous nephropathy (e.g.,…
Interferons are cytokines which play a central role in the inflammatory response, and commercially prepared interferons have proven useful in the treatment of several diseases. For instance, interferon-alpha (often used in conjunction with ribavirin) is often used in…
Atypical HUS refers to hemolytic uremic syndrome which occurs without E. coli 0157:H7-induced diarrhea as the inciting event. There are many causes of atypical HUS: calcineurin inhibitors, HIV, pneumococcal infection and rare genetic diseases are all on the…
I’ve done a post on renal-relevant HIV drugs previously, but I just heard an interesting case of tenofovir-induced renal failure at our Renal Grand Rounds and thought I’d mention a few interesting tidbits from the presentation. 1. HIV-Associated…
I was taught the rule of 6’s when it came to using opiates in dialysis patients: they’re metabolized by hepatic glucuronidase to 6-glucurinides (e.g. morphine 6 glucuronide or M6G) these metabolites are renally excreted, increasing the half-life to…
There is a good review article in this month’s NEJM entitled “Use of Diuretics in Patients with Hypertension” by Ernst and Moser which focuses predominantly on the thiazide class of diuretics. The thiazides are considered a FUNCTIONAL rather…
The aminoglycosides are amongst the most well-known nephrotoxic drugs. Yet due to their efficacy against many organisms, they are amongst the most common antibiotics used. The next time your nephrology service goes toe-to-toe with the infectious disease service…
Final results of last week’s Renal Fellow Network poll: There seemed to be general agreement that volume expansion with isotonic saline is definitely effective, and many individuals also selected the isotonic saline + N-acetylcysteine combination. Interestingly, only 23%…
The ability to adequately suppress the immune system and prevent allograft rejection has been a true success story over the past several decades. With the advent of drugs such as calcineurin inhibitors, induction agents such as thymoglobulin, azathioprine…
