title: Glomerular nestin expression: possible predictor of outcome of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A high prevalence of chronic kidney disease among children with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) leads to a permanent quest for good predictors of kidney dysfunction. Thus, we carried out a retrospective cohort study in order to examine known clinical and morphological predictors of adverse outcome, as well as to investigate glomerular nestin expression as a potential new early predictor of kidney dysfunction in children with FSGS. Relationships between nestin expression and clinical and morphological findings were also investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Among 649 renal biopsy samples, obtained from two children's hospitals, FSGS was diagnosed in 60 children. Thirty-eight patients, who met the criteria for this study, were followed up for 9.0 ± 5.2 years. Using Kaplan-Meier and Cox's regression analysis, potential clinical and morphological predictors were applied in two models of prediction: after disease onset and after the biopsy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The present study revealed the following significant predictors of kidney dysfunction: patients' ages at disease onset, as well as age at biopsy, resistance to corticosteroid treatment, serum creatinine level, urine protein/creatinine ratio, vascular involvement, tubular atrophy, interstitial fibrosis, and decreased glomerular nestin expression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The most important finding of our study is that nestin can be used as a potential new early morphological predictor of kidney dysfunction in childhood onset of FSGS, since nestin has been obviously decreased in both sclerotic and normal glomeruli seen by light microscopy.
authors.affiliation: Medical Faculty, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Maja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Životić
authors.forename: Radovan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bogdanović
authors.forename: Amira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Peco-Antić
authors.forename: Dušan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Paripović
authors.forename: Nataša
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Stajić
authors.forename: Jelena
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vještica
authors.forename: Sanja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ćirović
authors.forename: Goran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Trajković
authors.forename: Jasmina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marković-Lipkovski
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005923:Glomerulosclerosis, Focal Segmental / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology; D007678:Kidney Glomerulus / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D064231:Nestin / Q000032:analysis*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C577484:NES protein, human; D064231:Nestin