Acute kidney injury in a patient with metabolic syndrome

The metabolic syndrome (MS) encompasses many metabolic abnormalities and the insulin resistance is considered as one of the most significant denominators. The chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an emerging health problem but only few patients would reach the end stage renal disease. There exists an increasing strong association between MS and CKD, but up until now the link between MS and CKD is unclear and there are few studies regarding the renal histology in MS.

We describe an acute tubulointerstitial nephritis case, due to both infective and pharmacological aetiology, overlapping relevant histological changes (focal segmental glomerulosclerosis [FSG], hyaline arteriosclerosis) in a patient with MS and previously normal renal function. Despite the severe vascular finding (elevated renal arterial resistive index), the patient recovered a normal renal function.

We reviewed the kidney pathological studies in MS and analyzed the principal renal histological images of glomerulomegaly, segmental glomerulosclerosis, and obesity-related glomerulopathy.

Despite the strong association, the renal involvement in MS has not been proven. A greater knowledge of the combination of histological renal changes in MS can help to understand the pathophysiological mechanism(s) of MS.