Grant: Operating Grant

Glomerulonephritis is a form of kidney injury that involves inflammation of the small filters of the kidneys (glomeruli) with associated loss of kidney function. The majority of patients can recover when treated with potent drugs that suppress the immune system. Despite treatment, some patients will continue to have a decline in kidney function which does not appear to be caused by the initial inflammation, but by a progressive scarring of the kidney tissue. The cause of this scarring or fibrosis is not clear. One possibility is that special cells are recruited from the bone marrow (in a similar manner to the way inflammatory cells are recruited to injured tissue). These cells are called 'fibrocytes' as they appear to be similar in some respects to 'fibroblasts' that are known to cause scarring in tissues. It is not clear whether these fibrocyte cells are good are bad. They may cause scarring in tissue, or they may be involved in healing and repair. Glomerulonephritis provides a unique opportunity to understand the role of these fibrocytes in disease. Most patients get a kidney biopsy to diagnose the disease so we can look for the presence of these cells in the tissue and in the blood at the same time. We can see whether the number of fibrocytes predict whether the patient will recover renal function or not. By studying the role of fibrocytes in this disease, we will gain further insights into the causes of loss of kidney function and hints that may lead us to new potential treatments.