Clinical strategies for arresting progression of renal disease

The incidence of end-stage renal disease is increasing and this results in an enhanced requirement of renal replacement therapy facilities. This brings about a significant burden on health care budgets and makes strategies that slow down or even prevent deterioration of the renal function mandatory. Although large scale randomized, controlled and prospective clinical trials on the effect of blood pressure control on the course of renal function are lacking, there is circumstantial evidence from animal, epidemiological and clinical studies to state that treatment of hypertension to blood pressure values well within the normal range is most important to ameliorate the downhill course of renal function in patients with chronic renal failure. Moreover, treatment of hypertension is critical to reduce morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular disease in these patients, who have an increased risk for such events. Low-protein diets, if possible with ketoacid supplement, are advocated to slow down the deterioration of renal function. However, based on the results of recent studies, low-protein diets may only have a moderate effect in patients with diabetic nephropathy and, possibly, in patients with chronic glomerulonephritis. The possibility of influencing renal ammoniagenesis by protein restriction or calcium carbonate administration, and an attenuation of alternative complement pathway activation and tubulo-interstitial injury, are challenging. Finally, in animal studies it has been found that abnormalities in serum lipid profile contribute to the progression of chronic renal failure, which may be prevented by pharmacological treatment of hyperlipidemia. Studies in humans concerning this subject are lacking at this moment, but treatment of hyperlipidemia is proper to reduce cardiovascular events.