Many kidney diseases are associated with proteinuria. Since proteinuria is independently associated with kidney function loss, anti-proteinuric medication, often in combination with dietary salt restriction, comprises a major cornerstone in the prevention of progressive kidney failure. Nevertheless, complete remission of proteinuria is very difficult to achieve, and most patients with persistent proteinuria slowly progress toward kidney failure. It is well-recognized that proteinuria leads to kidney inflammation and fibrosis via various mechanisms. Among others, complement activation at the apical side of the proximal tubular epithelial cells is suggested to play a crucial role as a cause of progressive loss of kidney function. However, hitherto limited attention is given to the pathophysiological role of tubular complement activation relative to glomerular complement activation. This review aims to summarize the evidence for tubular epithelial complement activation in proteinuric kidney diseases in relation to loss of kidney function.
Background: Home dialysis therapies such as peritoneal dialysis (PD) and home hemodialysis (HHD) are beneficial for quality of life and patient empowerment. The short technique survival time partly explains their low prevalence. We aimed to assess the risk of transfer to facility-based hemodialysis in patients treated with autonomous PD, assisted PD and HHD.
Methods: This was a retrospective study using data from the REIN registry of patients starting home dialysis in France from 2002 to 2019. The risks of transfer to facility-based hemodialysis (HD) were compared between three modalities of home dialysis (HHD, nurse-assisted PD, autonomous PD) using survival models with a propensity score (PS)-matched and unmatched cohort of patients.
Results: The study included 17 909 patients: 628 in the HHD group, 10 214 in the autonomous PD group, and 7067 in the assisted PD group. During the follow-up period, there were 5347 transfers to facility-based HD. The observed number of transfers was 2458 (13.7%) at 1 year and 5069 (28.3) at 5 years after the start of home dialysis, including 3272 (32%) on autonomous PD, 1648 (23.3%) on assisted PD, and 149 (23.7) on HHD. Owing to clinical characteristics differences, only 38% of HHD patients could be matched to patients from the others group. In the PS-matched cohort, the adjusted Cox model showed no difference in the risk of transfer for assisted PD (cs-HR 1.04, 95% CI 0.75-1.44) or HHD (cs-HR 1.07, 95% CI 0.77-1.48) compared with autonomous PD.
Conclusions: Unlike results from other countries, where nurse assistance is not fully available for PD-associated care, there was no difference in technique survival between autonomous PD, nurse-assisted PD, and HHD in France. This discrepancy may be attributed to our inclusion of a broader spectrum of patients who derive significant benefits from assisted PD.