Kidney disease in hepatitis B surface antigen-positive children: experience from a centre in south-west Nigeria and a review of the Nigerian literature

Kidney disease is an important extra-hepatic manifestation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. However, there is paucity of recent literature on kidney disease in children and adolescents with HBV infection from several parts of sub-Saharan Africa including Nigeria.To review the pattern of kidney disease in hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive children and adolescents seen at a tertiary hospital in south-west Nigeria.A retrospective study was undertaken of HBsAg-seropositive children with kidney disease managed at University College Hospital, Ibadan, from January 2004 to December 2015. Patients were identified from the paediatric nephrology unit admissions and the renal histology registers.24 children and adolescents were studied, 17 of whom were male (70.8%), and the median age was 10.0 years (range 3-15). Ten (41.7%) had nephrotic syndrome, five (20.8%) had non-nephrotic glomerulonephritis, five (20.8%) were in end-stage renal disease (ESRD), including a patient with posterior urethral valves, and four had acute kidney injury secondary to acute tubular necrosis. Renal histology was available for 10 patients: nine had nephrotic syndrome associated with minimal change disease in six, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in two and one had membanoproliferative glomerulonephritis. The patient with non-nephrotic glomerulonephritis had diffuse global sclerosis.The pattern of kidney disease in HBV-positive children demonstrated a predominance of nephrotic syndrome, followed by non-nephrotic glomerulonephritis, ESRD and acute kidney injury. Better diagnostic facilities and treatment are required. Prevention of HBV infection by universal childhood immunisation is the ultimate goal

Precision nephrology identified tumor necrosis factor activation variability in minimal change disease and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.

The diagnosis of nephrotic syndrome relies on clinical presentation and descriptive patterns of injury on kidney biopsies, but not specific to underlying pathobiology. Consequently, there are variable rates of progression and response to therapy within diagnoses. Here, an unbiased transcriptomic-driven approach was used to identify molecular pathways which are shared by subgroups of patients with either minimal change disease (MCD) or focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). Kidney tissue transcriptomic profile-based clustering identified three patient subgroups with shared molecular signatures across independent, North American, European, and African cohorts. One subgroup had significantly greater disease progression (Hazard Ratio 5.2) which persisted after adjusting for diagnosis and clinical measures (Hazard Ratio 3.8). Inclusion in this subgroup was retained even when clustering was limited to those with less than 25% interstitial fibrosis. The molecular profile of this subgroup was largely consistent with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) pathway activation. Two TNF pathway urine markers were identified, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), that could be used to predict an individual\u27s TNF pathway activation score. Kidney organoids and single-nucleus RNA-sequencing of participant kidney biopsies, validated TNF-dependent increases in pathway activation score, transcript and protein levels of TIMP-1 and MCP-1, in resident kidney cells. Thus, molecular profiling identified a subgroup of patients with either MCD or FSGS who shared kidney TNF pathway activation and poor outcomes. A clinical trial testing targeted therapies in patients selected using urinary markers of TNF pathway activation is ongoing

Research capacity. Enabling the genomic revolution in Africa.

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A meta-analysis identifies new loci associated with body mass index in individuals of African ancestry

<p>Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified 36 loci associated with body mass index (BMI), predominantly in populations of European ancestry. We conducted a meta-analysis to examine the association of >3.2 million SNPs with BMI in 39,144 men and women of African ancestry and followed up the most significant associations in an additional 32,268 individuals of African ancestry. We identified one new locus at 5q33 (GALNT10, rs7708584, P = 3.4 x 10(-11)) and another at 7p15 when we included data from the GIANT consortium (MIR148A-NFE2L3, rs10261878, P = 1.2 x 10(-10)). We also found suggestive evidence of an association at a third locus at 6q16 in the African-ancestry sample (KLHL32, rs974417, P = 6.9 x 10(-8)). Thirty-two of the 36 previously established BMI variants showed directionally consistent effect estimates in our GWAS (binomial P = 9.7 x 10(-7)), five of which reached genome-wide significance. These findings provide strong support for shared BMI loci across populations, as well as for the utility of studying ancestrally diverse populations.</p>