[Infection-related glomerulonephritis: the new face of an old disease]

Abstract

In the last decades there have been important changes in the epidemiology and natural history of bacterial infection-related glomerulonephritides. Once defined as an infancy-onset acute nephritic syndrome following a streptococcal infection, and characterized by a relative benign course, infection-related glomerulonephritis nowadays also affects the adult population, particularly the elderly and the chronically ill. The infectious agents and infection sites have become more diversified, and the prognosis is burdened by a higher rate of mortality, chronic kidney disease, end-stage renal disease and acute overload complications. In this review we highlight the main clinical features of infection-related glomerulonephritis, offering an insight into its pathogenesis and the elements that allow an appropriate differential diagnosis. We also address the uncertainties around the role of immunosuppression in its therapeutic management.

Keywords: Staphylococcus; glomerulonephritis; infection; nephrotic syndrome.