Outbreak of Chinese herb nephropathy in Japan: are there any differences from Belgium?
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this article was to study and clarify the features of Chinese herb nephropathy (CHN) in Japan.


METHODS
The subjects consisted of patients diagnosed as having CHN in Saiseikai Nakatsu Hospital and of those reported in the literature in Japan. We investigated the clinical and histological features of CHN patients in Japan and compared them with the Belgian cases.


RESULTS
The remarkable differences were as follows: (1) high prevalence in males compared with Belgian cases, (2) Fanconi syndrome was found in most cases, (3) no patients had malignant tumors in the urinary tract. In addition, the ascribed Chinese medicines in Japan were divided into three groups: 'Tenshin-toki-shigyaku-ka-gosyuyu-syokyo-to', 'Boui-ougi-to', and others.


CONCLUSIONS
CHN in Japan has some characteristics distinguished from Belgian nephropathy. One hypothesis is a susceptibility to aristolochic acids (AAs), which is considered to be a causative agent, may be different among races. Another is that there could be some other toxic substances affecting the clinical findings although they are not identified at present. Further studies must be undertaken to clarify these differences.
Tanaka
A
A
Department of Nephrology, Osaka Saiseikai Nakatsu Hospital.
Nishida
R
R
Yoshida
T
T
Koshikawa
M
M
Goto
M
M
Kuwahara
T
T
D034341:Aristolochic Acids; D044466:Asian People; D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D002117:Calcitriol / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005198:Fanconi Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D007668:Kidney / Q000473:pathology; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D010616:Phenanthrenes / Q000009:adverse effects; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D017693:Sodium Bicarbonate / Q000627:therapeutic use; D044465:White People
D034341:Aristolochic Acids; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D010616:Phenanthrenes; D017693:Sodium Bicarbonate; C000228:aristolochic acid I; D011239:Prednisolone; D002117:Calcitriol