Clinical Nephrology

Description

The “Clinical Nephrology” research group has, as its main objectives, the study of kidney diseases to prevent or slow down its progression, thus avoiding the need for dialysis and transplantation. Most of the group’s activities are focused on clinical observational studies and prospective therapeutic trials, many of them published in highest-rank international journals of Urology&Nephrology and other cathegories.

The group PI, Manuel Praga, is founder and national coordinator of the Spanish Group for the study of Glomerular Diseases (GLOSEN) of the Spanish Nephrology Society, which has greatly amplified the horizon and impact of the group, and GLOSEN is today considered as an international reference in the field of glomerular diseases. More recently, the collaborations of the group with basic investigators and its participation as the clinical node of the research consortium on complement disorders (Complement-I and Complement-II) have enhanced their projection and strength in the investigation of renal diseases related to complement dysregulation.

The main objectives and priority research lines of the group include:

1. Primary glomerulonephritis, and among them the investigation about the treatment of membranous nephropathy (the group is currently leading an international multicenter therapeutic trial), the clinical and molecular pathogenic mechanisms of IgA nephropathy progression, with special interest for the participation of hematuria and the investigation about new therapeutic alternatives in this disease , and the recurrence of glomerular diseases in kidney grafts.
2. Renal diseases caused by complement dysregulation, including primary and secondary hemolytic uremic syndrome, C3 glomerulopathies, the participation of complement in the progression of IgA nephropathy and other glomerular diseases and the implications of complement dysregulation in accelerated and malignant hypertension.
3. Systemic diseases, with special interest for lupus nephritis and vasculitis.
4. Obesity-related renal diseases and new therapeutic alternatives in type 2 diabetic nephropathy.
5. Acute interstitial nephropathies, mainly those related to medications and, among them, those associated with oncological treatments and antitumoral immunotherapy.

In all these fields, the group has achieved relevant results and publications, with a sustained and active participation in international forums and in the most prestigious therapeutic guidelines (KDIGO on glomerular diseases, EULAR-EDTA on lupus nephritis, Spanish consensus guidelines on lupus nephritis and haemolytic-uremic syndrome).