Podocyte dysfunction driven by heme in sickle-cell nephropathy.

Sickle-cell disease (SCD) is characterized by vaso-occlusive crises and chronic hemolytic anemia, leading to tissue damage affecting various organs, including the kidneys. Hemolysis contributes to sickle-cell nephropathy (SCN) but the molecular mechanisms underlying the intravascular hemolysis and heme release involved in podocyte damage leading to proteinuria and chronic kidney disease remain uncertain. This study explored the impact of heme on podocyte function by exposing human podocytes cell line to hemin (5 μM hemin for 4 and 24 h), with or without the antioxidant N-acetyl cysteine (NAC).

Repeat biopsies in membranous lupus nephritis in the era of target antigen identification.

In membranous lupus nephritis (LN), positivity for the target antigen exostosin 1/2 (EXT) is associated with a lower chronicity index (CI) at first biopsy and a lower risk of progression to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) compared to EXT-negative patients. Repeat kidney biopsies (RKB) in LN may reveal increasing CI and class transition with prognostic significance. In a cohort of membranous LN with RKB, we assessed the variation in EXT and neural cell adhesion molecule 1 (NCAM1) expression and their association with class III/IV + V transition and renal outcomes.

Kidney Outcomes in Patients With Hereditary Transthyretin Amyloid Nephropathy Treated With Transthyretin Stabilizers And Gene-Silencer Therapies.

Introduction: Kidney involvement is underestimated in patients with hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTRv), and few data are available about the renal outcomes of patients treated with targeted therapies.

Methods: Patients with ATTRv nephropathy (ATTRv-N) from 6 French referral centers were retrospectively included. The evolution of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and proteinuria, and the specific treatments of ATTRv were collected.

Sporadic late onset nemaline myopathy responsive to plasma exchanges discovered during a Graft-versus-host disease.

Sporadic late-onset nemaline myopathy (SLONM) is a rare adult-onset acquired myopathy characterized by the presence of clusters of nemaline bodies (rods) inside atrophic muscle fibers, with mild to no inflammation. Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a systemic disorder occurring after allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (allo-HSCT) variably associated with immune-mediated neuromuscular complications such as myositis, peripheral neuropathy, and myasthenic syndromes. A 49-year-old woman with an acute myeloid leukemia with translocation (6;9), and transcript DEK-NUP, was treated with chemotherapy and allo-HSCT.

Publication productivity of pathology residents: a nationwide cohort study in France.

The publication productivity of residents has been reported in various specialties, mainly in North America, but never in pathology. In France, pathology residents must defend a medical thesis to obtain the title of medical doctor and to practice medicine. The aim of this study was to assess the thesis performance and publication output of a nationwide cohort of pathology residents from six graduating classes in France.

Complement Terminal Pathway Activation and Intrarenal Immune Response in C3 Glomerulopathy.

Key Points: We evidenced terminal pathway activation (C5b-9 deposits) in most of the glomeruli on kidney biopsy of C3 glomerulopathy. The amount of C5b-9 deposits correlated with disease prognosis in C3 glomerulopathy. Increased terminal pathway activation was found predominantly in a subgroup exhibiting an immuno-fibroblastic signature.

The spectrum of glomerular and vascular kidney pathology associated with myeloproliferative neoplasms.

A high prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) occurs in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). However, MPN-related glomerulopathy (MPN-RG) may not account for the entirety of CKD risk in this population. The systemic vasculopathy encountered in these patients raises the hypothesis that vascular nephrosclerosis may be a common pattern of injury in patients with MPN and with CKD.

Belatacept inhibit human B cell germinal center development in immunodeficient mice.

The humoral response mediated by alloantibodies directed against donor HLA molecules (DSAs) is one of the main causes of graft loss in kidney transplantation. Understanding the pathophysiology leading to humoral kidney rejection as the development of therapeutic tools is therefore a main objective in the field of solid organ transplantation and necessitate adapted experimental models. Among the immunosuppressive agents used in renal transplantation, belatacept, a fusion protein targeting T costimulatory molecules has shown its ability to prevent more efficiently the secretion of DSA by different mechanisms including a direct action on plasma cells but also on B lymphocytes and follicular helper T lymphocytes (Tfh) cooperation.

Additional Benefits of Rituximab and Plasma Exchange on Top of Standard Induction Therapy in Kidney Transplant Recipients With a Negative CDC Crossmatch but High Preformed Donor Specific Antibody Titer.

Optimal induction strategy in highly sensitized kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) is still a matter of debate. The place of therapies, such as plasma exchange and rituximab, with potential side effects and high cost, is not clearly established. We compared two induction strategies with (intensive) or without (standard) rituximab and plasma exchange in KTRs with high levels of preformed DSA transplanted between 2012 and 2019.

Pathological spectrum of hereditary transthyretin renal amyloidosis and clinicopathologic correlation: a French observational study.

Background: Cardiac and neurological involvements are the main clinical features of hereditary transthyretin (ATTRv) amyloidosis. Few data are available about ATTRv amyloid nephropathy (ATTRvN).

Methods: We retrospectively included 30 patients with biopsy-proven ATTRvN [V30M (26/30) including two domino liver recipients, S77Y (2/30), V122I (1/30) and S50R (1/30) variants] from two French reference centers.

The Neuropilin-1/PKC axis promotes neuroendocrine differentiation and drug resistance of prostate cancer.

Background: Neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) is a multi-resistant variant of prostate cancer (PCa) that has become a major challenge in clinics. Understanding the neuroendocrine differentiation (NED) process at the molecular level is therefore critical to define therapeutic strategies that can prevent multi-drug resistance.

Methods: Using RNA expression profiling and immunohistochemistry, we have identified and characterised a gene expression signature associated with the emergence of NED in a large PCa cohort, including 169 hormone-naïve PCa (HNPC) and 48 castration-resistance PCa (CRPC) patients.

Real-Life Evaluation of an Algorithm for the Diagnosis of Cardiac Amyloidosis.

Objective: To evaluate the real-life use of a modified Gillmore algorithm with a "one-stop-shop" approach, bone scintigraphy (BS), a monoclonal gammopathy test (GT), a salivary gland biopsy (SGB), and genetic testing performed at the same time for the diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis at the French National Reference Centre for Cardiac Amyloidosis (Henri Mondor Hospital, Créteil, France).

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included a total of 1222 patients with suspected amyloidosis who underwent BS and GT between June 2008 and May 2019.

Results: Of 1222 patients, 349 had no cardiac uptake on BS and negative GT (BS-/GT-), 276 were BS-/GT positive (GT+), 420 patients were BS+/GT-, and 177 were BS+/GT+.