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Abstract Pediatric steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome (pSSNS) is the most common childhood glomerular disease. Previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) identified a risk locus in the HLA Class II region and three additional independent risk loci. But the genetic architecture of pSSNS, and its genetically driven pathobiology, is largely unknown. Here, we conduct a multi-population GWAS meta-analysis in 38,463 participants (2440 cases). We then conduct conditional analyses and population specific GWAS. We discover twelve significant associations—eight from the multi-population meta-analysis (four novel), two from the multi-population conditional analysis (one novel), and two additional novel loci from the European meta-analysis. Fine-mapping implicates specific amino acid haplotypes in HLA-DQA1 and HLA-DQB1 driving the HLA Class II risk locus. Non-HLA loci colocalize with eQTLs of monocytes and numerous T-cell subsets in independent datasets. Colocalization with kidney eQTLs is lacking but overlap with kidney cell open chromatin suggests an uncharacterized disease mechanism in kidney cells. A polygenic risk score (PRS) associates with earlier disease onset. Altogether, these discoveries expand our knowledge of pSSNS genetic architecture across populations and provide cell-specific insights into its molecular drivers. Evaluating these associations in additional cohorts will refine our understanding of population specificity, heterogeneity, and clinical and molecular associations.

Abstract Background The European Rare Kidney Disease Reference Network (ERKNet) recently established ERKReg, a Web-based registry for all patients with rare kidney diseases. The main objectives of this core registry are to generate epidemiological information, identify current patient cohort for clinical research, explore diagnostic and therapeutic management practices, and monitor treatment performance and patient’s outcomes. The registry has a modular design that allows to integrate comprehensive disease-specific registries as extensions to the core database. The diagnosis (Orphacode) and diagnostic information (clinical, imaging, histopathological, biochemical, immunological and genetic) are recorded. Anthropometric, kidney function, and disease-specific management and outcome items informing a set of 61 key performance indicators (KPIs) are obtained annually. Data quality is ensured by automated plausibility checks upon data entry and regular offline database checks prompting queries. Centre KPI statistics and benchmarking are calculated automatically. Results Within the first 24 months since its launch, 7607 patients were enrolled to the registry at 45 pediatric and 12 specialized adult nephrology units from 21 countries. A kidney disease diagnosis had been established in 97.1% of these patients at time of enrolment. While 199 individual disease entities were reported by Orphacode, 50% of the cohort could be classified with 11, 80% with 43 and 95% with 92 codes. Two kidney diagnoses were assigned in 6.5% of patients; 5.9% suffered from syndromic disease. Whereas glomerulopathies (54.8%) and ciliopathies including autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) (31.5%) were the predominant disease groups among adults, the pediatric disease spectrum encompassed congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) (33.7%), glomerulopathies (30.7%), ciliopathies (14.0%), tubulopathies (9.2%), thrombotic microangiopathies (5.6%), and metabolic nephropathies (4.1%). Genetically confirmed diagnoses were reported in 24% of all pediatric and 12% adult patients, whereas glomerulopathies had been confirmed by kidney biopsy in 80.4% adult versus 38.5% pediatric glomerulopathy cases. Conclusions ERKReg is a rapidly growing source of epidemiological information and patient cohorts for clinical research, and an innovative tool to monitor management quality and patient outcomes.

Background and Objectives: Maturation of the gut microbiota (GM) in infants is critically affected by environmental factors, with potential long-lasting clinical consequences. Continuous low-dose antibiotic prophylaxis (CAP) is the standard of care for children with vesicoureteral reflux (VUR), in order to prevent recurrent urinary tract infections. We aimed to assess short-term GM modifications induced by CAP in infants.Methods: We analyzed the GM structure in 87 infants (aged 1-5 months) with high-grade VUR, previously exposed or naïve to CAP. Microbial DNA was extracted from stool samples. GM profiling was achieved by 16S rRNA gene-based next-generation sequencing. Fecal levels of short- and branched-chain fatty acids were also assessed.Results: 36/87 patients had been taking daily CAP for a median time of 47 days, while 51/87 had not. In all patients, the GM was predominantly composed by Bifidobacteriaceae and Enterobacteriaceae. Subgroup comparative analysis revealed alterations in the GM composition of CAP-exposed infants at phylum, family and genus level. CAP-exposed GM was enriched in members of Enterobacteriaceae and Bacteroidetes, especially in the genera Bacteroides and Parabacteroides, and showed a trend toward increased Klebsiella, often associated with antibiotic resistance. In contrast, the GM of non-CAP children was mostly enriched in Bifidobacterium. No differences were found in fatty acid levels.Conclusions: In infants with VUR, even a short exposure to CAP definitely alters the GM composition, with increased relative abundance of opportunistic pathogens and decreased proportions of health-promoting taxa. Early low-dose antibiotic exposure might bear potential long-term clinical risks.

Objectives In a previously published Delphi exercise the European Pediatric Dialysis Working Group (EPDWG) reported widely variable counteractive responses to COVID-19 during the first week of statutory public curfews in 12 European countries with case loads of 4–680 infected patients per million. To better understand these wide variations, we assessed different factors affecting countermeasure implementation rates and applied the capability, opportunity, motivation model of behaviour to describe their determinants.Design We undertook this international mixed methods study of increased depth and breadth to obtain more complete data and to better understand the resulting complex evidence.Setting This study was conducted in 14 paediatric nephrology centres across 12 European countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.Participants The 14 participants were paediatric nephrologists and EPDWG members from 12 European centres.Main outcome measures 52 countermeasures clustered into eight response domains (access control, patient testing, personnel testing, personal protective equipment policy, patient cohorting, personnel cohorting, suspension of routine care, remote work) were categorised by implementation status, drivers (expert opinion, hospital regulations) and resource dependency. Governmental strictness and media attitude were independently assessed for each country and correlated with relevant countermeasure implementation factors.Results Implementation rates varied widely among response domains (median 49.5%, range 20%–71%) and centres (median 46%, range 31%–62%). Case loads were insufficient to explain response rate variability. Increasing case loads resulted in shifts from expert opinion-based to hospital regulation-based decisions to implement additional countermeasures despite increased resource dependency. Higher governmental strictness and positive media attitude towards countermeasure implementation were associated with higher implementation rates.Conclusions COVID-19 countermeasure implementation by paediatric tertiary care centres did not reflect case loads but rather reflected heterogeneity of local rules and of perceived resources. These data highlight the need of ongoing reassessment of current practices, facilitating rapid change in ‘institutional behavior’ in response to emerging evidence of countermeasure efficacy.

Failure of statural growth is one of the major long-term sequelae of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in children. In recent years effective therapeutic strategies have become available that lead to evidence based practice recommendations. To assess the current growth performance of European children and adolescents with CKD, we analyzed a cohort of 594 patients from 12 European countries who were followed prospectively for up to 6 years in the 4C Study. While all patients were on conservative treatment with a mean estimated glomerular filtration rate of 28 ml/min/1.73 m2 at study entry, 130 children commenced dialysis during the observation period. At time of enrolment the mean height standard deviation score (SDS) was −1.57; 36% of patients had a height below the third percentile. The prevalence of growth failure varied between countries from 7 to 44% Whereas patients on conservative treatment showed stable growth, height SDS gradually declined on those on dialysis. Parental height, pubertal status and treatment with recombinant growth hormone (GH) were positively, and the diagnosis of syndromic disease and CKD stage were negatively associated with height SDS during the observation period. Unexpectedly, higher body mass index (BMI) SDS was associated with lower height SDS both at enrolment and during follow up. Renal anemia, metabolic acidosis, and hyperparathyroidism were mostly mild and not predictive of growth rates by multivariable analysis. GH therapy was applied in only 15% of growth retarded patients with large variation between countries. When adjusting for all significant covariates listed above, the country of residence remained a highly significant predictor of overall growth performance. In conclusion, growth failure remains common in European children with CKD, despite improved general management of CKD complications. The widespread underutilization of GH, an approved efficacious therapy for CKD-associated growth failure, deserves further exploration.

Abstract The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between the severity of typical clinical symptoms, severity of histopathological lesions in kidney biopsies in IgA vasculitis nephritis (IgAVN) and to propose indications for kidney biopsy in children. Material and methods This retrospective study enrolled 106 patients, included in the IgAVN registry of Polish children, diagnosed by kidney biopsy. Renal and extrarenal symptoms at onset of the disease were analyzed. Biopsy results were assessed using Oxford classifications (MEST-C). The patients were divided into 3 groups depending on the severity of proteinuria: A-nephrotic proteinuria with hematuria; B-non-nephrotic proteinuria with hematuria; C-isolated hematuria. Results The first symptoms of nephropathy were observed at the 0.7 (1–128.4) months from the onset of extrarenal symptoms. Kidney biopsy was performed on 39 (6–782) days after the onset of nephropathy symptoms. MEST-C score 4 or 5 was significantly more frequent in children from group A than in groups B and C. Significantly higher mean MEST-C score was found in patients with abdominal symptoms than without. In group A: S0 and T0 we found in significantly shorter time to kidney biopsy than in S1, T1–2 p

Wady wrodzone układu moczowego stanowią znaczącą grupę wad, które mogą być wykryte prenatalnie. Oprócz nieprawidłowych obrazów dróg wyprowadzających mocz stwierdza się również nieprawidłowości w zakresie ilości i struktury miąższu nerkowego. Nieprawidłowe obrazy ultrasonograficzne obejmują zaburzenia, takie jak: niewytworzenie lub zmniejszenie ilości miąższu jednej lub obu nerek, hiperechogeniczność miąższu, zmiany torbielowate lub dysplastyczne oraz pojedyncze torbiele. Z punktu widzenia epidemiologicznego występują one wyraźniej rzadziej niż zaburzenia dróg wyprowadzających mocz. Mimo to część z nich może stanowić zagrożenie dla przebiegu ciąży i dla dziecka – na przykład agenezja nerek czy obustronne zmiany torbielowate. Ciężar diagnostyki pourodzeniowej w tych przypadkach spoczywa na pediatrze, lekarzu rodzinnym oraz konsultującym nefrologu. Jej początkowy schemat jest podobny do zastosowanego w przypadku wad z poszerzeniem dróg moczowych (badanie wstępne pourodzeniowe oraz badanie dodatkowe 4-6 tygodni po poprzednim). Wiadomo, że zaburzenia echostruktury i ilości miąższu nerek zwykle nie stanowią zagrożenia dla dziecka w okresie noworodkowym i niemowlęcym, pod warunkiem wykluczenia zmian dotyczących obu nerek jednocześnie, takich jak wielotorbielowatość, dysplazja lub hipoplazja. Zdarza się także, że mimo braku potwierdzenia wady w pierwszych badaniach, zmiany występują w kolejnych. W niniejszym opracowaniu znajdują się wskazówki dotyczące postępowania pourodzeniowego w ww. jednostkach chorobowych. Dodatkowo omówione zostały obecnie obowiązujące zasady profilaktyki postępu choroby nerek oraz odstępstwa od zaproponowanych wskazówek w oparciu o dane kliniczne.

Szeroka dostępność prenatalnej diagnostyki ultrasonograficznej płodu niesie ze sobą korzyści pod postacią zwiększonej wykrywalności wad wrodzonych układu moczowego. Wadę taką w rutynowym badaniu podejrzewa się mniej więcej u 1/100 płodów. Najczęściej wykrywanym obrazem jest poszerzenie dróg moczowych płodu. Zmiany mogą dotyczyć jednej lub obu nerek płodu. Można zauważyć także poszerzenie moczowodów oraz powiększony pęcherz moczowy. W dużej liczbie przypadków obraz poszerzenia miedniczek nerkowych ustępuje lub nie stanowi ostatecznie wskazań do interwencji zabiegowej. Z drugiej strony powiększenie pęcherza moczowego i dróg moczowych wraz ze skąpowodziem wskazuje na poważną wadę wrodzoną z wysokim ryzykiem okołoporodowym. Obraz prenatalny dróg moczowych nie tylko umożliwia zaplanowanie interwencji w okresie ciąży, ale także pozwala ustalić właściwe postępowanie okołoporodowe, co ze względu na wysoką częstość nieprawidłowych obrazów ułatwia racjonalne postępowanie. W obecnej strukturze opieki zdrowotnej pierwszy etap diagnostyki planowany jest dla lekarzy neonatologów i pediatrów, którzy do tej pory nie mieli dostępu do zunifikowanych zaleceń co do takiego postępowania. Prezentowana praca powstała na podstawie zaleceń Polskiego Towarzystwa Nefrologii Dziecięcej, które przygotował wielodyscyplinarny zespół urologów, nefrologów oraz specjalistów radiologów – pisana była z myślą o lekarzach prowadzących pourodzeniową diagnostykę wad. Zaprezentowano w niej zalecenia dotyczące diagnostyki pourodzeniowej w przypadku poszerzenia miedniczki nerkowej, moczowodu, zastawek cewki tylnej. Zawiera także sugestie co do stosowania profilaktyki zakażeń układu moczowego.

Współczesny świat jawi się jako okres przeobrażeń w niemalże każdej sferze życia. Procesom transformacyjnym nadano miano globalizacji. Mimo iż termin ten po raz pierwszy pojawił się w literaturze początkiem lat 60., to ostatnia dekada obfituje w rozmaite opisy tego zjawiska. Ilość prac, monografii, artykułów poświęconych globalizacji zdumiewa. Globalizacja jest wysoce złożonym zjawiskiem natury społecznej, kulturowej, politycznej, ekonomicznej i technologicznej. Termin ten ma obecnie wiele znaczeń, jest pojęciem wielowymiarowym.....