In-Depth Topic Review

Antiphospholipid Antibodies and Renal Involvement
Antonietta Gigante^a, Maria Ludovica Gasperini^b, Rosario Cianci^a, Biagio Barbano^a, Konstantinos Giannakakis^c, Domenico Di Donato^a, Giorgio Fuiano^d, Antonio Amoroso^b

Departments of
^aNephrology,
^bClinical Medicine and
^cExperimental Medicine and Pathology, University of Rome La Sapienza, Rome, and
^dDepartment of Nephrology, University of Magna Graecia, Catanzaro, Italy

Address of Corresponding Author

Am J Nephrol 2009;30:405-412 (DOI: 10.1159/000235941)

  Key Words

• Antiphospholipid antibodies
• Antiphospholipid syndrome
• Systemic lupus erythematosus nephritis
• Antiphospholipid syndrome nephropathy

  Abstract

Antiphospholipid antibodies are a heterogeneous group of autoantibodies associated with the hypercoagulable state affecting all vascular districts with thrombosis named antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). APS is an autoimmune disease with multifactorial etiology that includes cellular, molecular, genetic and pathogenic mechanisms. The APS clinical features are a combination of arterial and/or venous thrombosis, hematological events, recurrent fetal losses, neurological disorders and intra-abdominal manifestations. The renal involvement is associated with both primary and secondary APS. Clinical features include hypertension, renal artery stenosis, thrombotic microangiopathy and other histological manifestations of the nephropathy (APSN), venous renal thrombosis, APSN in the course of systemic lupus erythematosus and renal failure. APSN is an independent risk factor that should be included in the classification criteria for definite APS with characteristic clinical and histological features.

Copyright © 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel

  Author Contacts

Dr. Antonietta Gigante, MD
Department of Nephrology, First Faculty of Medicine
University of Rome La Sapienza, Viale dell'Università, 37
IT-00185 Rome (Italy)
Tel./Fax +39 06 4997 2074, E-Mail antonietta_gigante@yahoo.it

  Article Information

Received: June 25, 2009
Accepted: July 23, 2009
Published online: August 28, 2009
Number of Print Pages : 8
Number of Figures : 5, Number of Tables : 2, Number of References : 40