Mechanisms of diabetic nephropathy--old buddies and newcomers part 2

Abstract

The clinical translation of established pathomechanisms of diabetic nephropathy improved the outcome in patients with diabetic nephropathy. However, they fail to halt or even reverse diabetic nephropathy, even though the feasibility of disease reversal has been established. The second part of this review summarizes recent novel insights into the mechanisms of diabetic nephropathy focusing on novel candidate mechanisms of diabetic nephropathy. These studies emphasize a crucial role of endothelial dependent mechanisms, which, however, can not be viewed as independent determinants of diabetic nephropathy. Rather, the endothelial dependent mechanisms act in concert with other cellular systems, establishing an intra-glomerular cross-talk which determines the progression of diabetic nephropathy.