The possibility that proteinuria may accelerate kidney disease progression to end-stage
renal failure has received support from the results of increasing numbers of experimental
and clinical studies. Evidence indicating that this process occurs through multiple pathways,
including induction of tubular chemokine expression and complement activation that lead to
inflammatory cell infiltration in the interstitium and sustained fibrogenesis, is reviewed.
Macrophages are prominent in the interstitial inflammatory infiltrate. This cell type mediates …