Anigilaje Emmanuel Ademola, Olutola Ayodotun
Nephrology Unit, Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria,
Center for Clinical Care and Clinical Research, Abuja, Nigeria.
Int J Nephrol Renovasc Dis. 2019 May 8;12:119-136. doi: 10.2147/IJNRD.S193874. eCollection 2019.
The prevalence of childhood steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS) ranges from 35% to 92%. This steroid resistance among Nigerian children also reflects underlying renal histopathology, revealing a rare minimal-change disease and a varying burden of membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). FSGS tends to progress to end-stage kidney disease, which requires dialysis and/or renal transplantation. While knowledge of the molecular basis of NS is evolving, recent data support the role of mutant genes that otherwise maintain the structural and functional composition of the glomerular filtration barrier to account for many monogenic forms of FSGS. With the advent of next-generation sequencing, >39 genes are currently associated with SRNS, and the number is likely to increase in the near future. Monogenic FSGS is primarily resistant to steroids, and this foreknowledge obviates the need for steroids, other immunosuppressive therapy, and renal biopsy. Therefore, a multidisciplinary collaboration among cell biologists, molecular physiologists, geneticists, and clinicians holds prospects of fine-tuning the management of SRNS caused by known mutant genes. This article describes the genetics of NS/SRNS in childhood and also gives a narrative review of the challenges and opportunities for molecular testing among children with SRNS in Nigeria. For these children to benefit from genetic diagnosis, Nigeria must aspire to have and develop the manpower and infrastructure required for medical genetics and genomic medicine, leveraging on her existing experiences in genomic medicine. Concerted efforts can be put in place to increase the number of enrollees in Nigeria's National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). The scope of the NHIS can be expanded to cater for the expensive bill of genetic testing within or outside the structure of the National Renal Care Policy proposed by Nigerian nephrologists.
儿童类固醇抵抗性肾病综合征(SRNS)的患病率在35%至92%之间。尼日利亚儿童中的这种类固醇抵抗也反映了潜在的肾脏组织病理学情况,显示出罕见的微小病变疾病以及不同程度的膜增生性肾小球肾炎和局灶节段性肾小球硬化(FSGS)负担。FSGS往往会进展为终末期肾病,这需要透析和/或肾移植。虽然对肾病综合征分子基础的认识在不断发展,但最近的数据支持突变基因的作用,这些基因原本维持肾小球滤过屏障的结构和功能组成,可解释许多单基因形式的FSGS。随着下一代测序技术的出现,目前有超过39个基因与SRNS相关,而且在不久的将来这个数字可能还会增加。单基因FSGS主要对类固醇耐药,这种先见之明避免了使用类固醇、其他免疫抑制疗法和肾活检的必要性。因此,细胞生物学家、分子生理学家、遗传学家和临床医生之间的多学科合作有望对由已知突变基因引起的SRNS的管理进行微调。本文描述了儿童期NS/SRNS的遗传学,并对尼日利亚SRNS儿童分子检测面临的挑战和机遇进行了叙述性综述。为了让这些儿童从基因诊断中受益,尼日利亚必须有志于拥有并发展医学遗传学和基因组医学所需的人力和基础设施,利用其在基因组医学方面的现有经验。可以共同努力增加尼日利亚国家健康保险计划(NHIS)的参保人数。NHIS的范围可以扩大,以支付在尼日利亚肾病学家提出的国家肾脏护理政策框架内或框架外进行基因检测的高昂费用。