What is intimal fibrosis?
Formation of excess fibrous connective tissue in the tunica intima (innermost layer) of arteries.
What causes fibrosis in the kidneys?
Diabetes and hypertension are currently the two principal causes of CKD (2), among other causes such as infectious glomerulonephritis, renal vasculitis, ureteral obstruction, genetic alterations, autoimmune diseases (1) and drugs (3,4).
Does fibrosis cause kidney problems?
The pathogenesis of renal fibrosis is a progressive process that ultimately leads to end-stage renal failure, a devastating disorder that requires dialysis or kidney transplantation. In a simplistic view, renal fibrosis represents a failed wound-healing process of the kidney tissue after chronic, sustained injury.
What is renal interstitial fibrosis?
Kidney interstitial fibrosis (IF) can be defined as the accumulation of collagen and related molecules in the interstitium. Interstitial collagen is normally present in the kidney, particularly type I and III, which serve as structural scaffolding.
What causes intimal hyperplasia?
The formation of intimal hyperplasia is often linked with vascular cell activation. Numerous factors promote the formation of intimal hyperplasia such as vascular wall injury, aging and inflammation.
What is arteriolar Hyalinosis?
Also arterial hyalinosis and arteriolar hyalinosis refers to thickening of the walls of arterioles by the deposits that appear as homogeneous pink hyaline material in routine staining. It is a type of arteriolosclerosis, which refers to thickening of the arteriolar wall and is part of the ageing process.
How is renal fibrosis treated?
Pirfenidone, a small synthetic molecule, was shown to reduce renal fibrosis in preclinical models, most likely via blocking the TGF-β promotor. In a phase 2 study in patients with FSGS (NCT00001959), treatment with pirfenidone had no effect on blood pressure or proteinuria, but GFR decline was reduced by 25%.
Can kidney fibrosis be reversed?
Can renal fibrosis be reversed? The simple answer is yes, areas of expanded extracellular matrix can regress. This has been demonstrated in some experimental models of self-limited kidney disease and in human diabetic nephropathy associated with mesangial matrix expansion.
What is mild intimal hyperplasia?
Intimal hyperplasia refers to a process in which the intima becomes thickened due to the presence of vascular smooth muscle cells and proteoglycan-rich extracellular matrix located between the endothelium and the internal elastic lamina (Figure 11.3).
What is intimal injury?
The intima is the innermost layer of an artery (or vein) and is composed of endothelium (the cells lining the lumen), a subendothelial layer of connective tissue, and an elastica interna. Either blunt or penetrating trauma can lead to a tear in the endothelium and other layers of the intima.
What is hyperplastic arteriosclerosis?
Hyperplastic arteriolosclerosis: It is characterized by thickening of the arteriolar wall due to the concentric proliferation of smooth muscle cells, giving the arterioles an “onion skin” appearance. These changes represent an adaptive response of arterioles to severe (“malignant”) hypertension.