ANCA-associated glomerulonephritis : insights into etiology, pathogenesis, and prognosis

Abstract

The body against itself When the immune system derails, antibodies directed against patients__ own molecules can be formed. This happens in ANCA-associated vasculitis, a vascular inflammation where antineutrophil cytoplasm autoantibodies (ANCA) cause damage, predominantly in the kidney. Untreated, vasculitis is fatal. However, treatment causes a high risk of complications and death. A major challenge in clinical practice is to distinguish which patients will respond well to treatment, and which will not. New insights PhD candidate Rob de Lind van Wijngaarden discusses several factors in his dissertation that may play a role in the formation of antibodies in patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis. He describes which lesions in the diagnostic renal biopsy predict outcome at one year and long term outcome at five years. Additionally, he discovered that ear, nose and throat involvement in vasculitis is a relatively beneficial factor, since it allows earlier discovery of renal damage. In summary, in his dissertation de Lind van Wijngaarden tries to render insight into the different prognoses of different patient groups and the influence of the clinical picture and the renal biopsy on the prognosis.