[Inherited tubular renal acidosis]. / Acidose tubulaire rénale héréditaire.

Renal tubular acidosis (RTA) is a tubulopathy characterized by metabolic acidosis with normal anion gap secondary to abnormalities of renal acidification. RTA can be classified into four main subtypes: distal RTA, proximal RTA, combined proximal and distal RTA, and hyperkalemic RTA. Distal RTA (type 1) is caused by the defect of H(+) secretion in the distal tubules and is characterized by the inability to acidify the urine below pH 5.5 during systemic acidemia. Proximal RTA (type 2) is caused by an impairment of bicarbonate reabsorption in the proximal tubules and characterized by a decreased renal bicarbonate threshold. Combined proximal and distal RTA (type 3) secondary to a reduction in tubular reclamation of bicarbonate and an inability to acidify the urine in the face of severe acidemia. Hyperkalemic RTA (type 4) may occur as a result of aldosterone deficiency or tubular insensitivity to aldosterone. Clinicians should be alert to the presence of RTA in patients with an unexplained normal anion gap acidosis, hypokalemia, recurrent nephrolithiasis and nephrocalcinosis. The mainstay of treatment of RTA remains alkali replacement.

Renal tubular acidosis.

Renal tubular acidosis (RTA) is a form of metabolic acidosis due to abnormal alkali (bicarbonate) loss by the kidneys or their failure to excrete net acid. While the latter does occur in chronic renal failure, the term RTA is usually applied only when the glomerular filtration rate is normal or near normal. As well as a cause of metabolic acidosis, RTA often presents as renal stone disease with nephrocalcinosis, rickets/osteomalacia, and growth retardation in children. In this brief review, we have summarized the classification, clinical features and the underlying cell and molecular pathophysiology of RTA. However, despite significant advances in our understanding of the mechanisms of RTA, its treatment is still empirical and based largely on alkali replacement therapy; but its wider significance in renal stone and bone disease is becoming increasingly recognized.

Renal tubular acidosis: developments in our understanding of the molecular basis.

Renal tubular acidosis is a metabolic acidosis due to impaired acid excretion by the kidney. Hyperchloraemic acidosis with a normal anion gap and normal (or near normal) glomerular filtration rate, and in the absence of diarrhoea, defines this disorder. However, systemic acidosis is not always evident and renal tubular acidosis can present with hypokalaemia, medullary nephrocalcinosis and recurrent calcium phosphate stone disease, as well as growth retardation and rickets in children, or short stature and osteomalacia in adults. Renal dysfunction in renal tubular acidosis is not always confined to acid excretion and can be part of a more generalised renal tubule defect, as in the renal Fanconi syndrome. Isolated renal tubular acidosis is more usually acquired, due to drugs, autoimmune disease, post-obstructive uropathy or any cause of medullary nephrocalcinosis. Less commonly, it is inherited and may be associated with deafness, osteopetrosis or ocular abnormalities. The clinical classification of renal tubular acidosis has been correlated with our current physiological model of how the nephron excretes acid, and this has facilitated genetic studies that have identified mutations in several genes encoding acid and base ion transporters. In vitro functional studies of these mutant proteins in cell expression systems have helped to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying renal tubular acidosis, which ultimately may lead to new therapeutic options in what is still treatment only by giving an oral alkali.

Renal tubular acidosis: practical guides to diagnosis and treatment.

The syndrome of renal tubular acidosis in some one of its various forms should be suspected when an infant or child has failure to thrive, metabolic acidosis, constipation, diarrhea, vomiting, anorexia, polyuria, or dehydration in infancy. Confirmatory biochemical findings include an inappropriately high urinary pH, inadequate acid excretion and/or abnormal tubular reabsorption of filtered bicarbonate. Growth can be normal when there is sustained correction of the metabolic acidosis through appropriate alkaline therapy.

[Type 4 renal tubular acidosis caused by spironolactone. A case report]. / Acidosi tubulare renale tipo 4 da spironolattone. Caso clinico.

The authors describe a case of type 4 renal tubular acidosis, observed in a subject with liver cirrhosis, the pathogenetic cause of which was probably the assumption of spironolactone. It is thought that, even if such an eventuality is not very frequent, it must be considered in clinical practice, in view of the negative consequences that the reduction in urinary ammonium excretion and hyponatriemia, together with this particular form of acidosis, may have on the neurological state of the patients.

[Distal renal tubular acidosis with rhabdomyolysis as the presenting form in 4 pregnant women]. / Acidosis tubular renal distal con rabdomiolisis como forma de presentación en 4 mujeres embarazadas.

We describe four pregnant patients with distal renal tubular acidosis (type I) (DRTA) whose initial presentation was rhabdomyolysis (RML) secondary to severe hypokalemia. We draw attention to the unusual presentation of DRTA during pregnancy, the low frequency of DRTA in adult patients and RML as initial manifestation. In one case the DRTA was secondary to Sjögren Syndrome and the etiology was unknown in the rest of the cases. We discuss the potential pathogenic mechanisms to explain hypokalemic RML and the various causes of DRTA in adult patients.

Acid-base disorders and the kidney.

In the normal human body, the extracellular fluid pH of 7.40 is closely protected. Any increase in acidity or alkalinity summons forth three lines of defense, starting immediately with the blood buffers, followed soon by the respiratory system's control of CO2, and finally purged by the renal excretion of the excess acid or base. The complex interrelated processes of the renal responses require a few days to accomplish maximum compensation. We have presented the fundamental principles governing maintenance of the acid-base equilibrium to provide a conceptual framework for understanding the clinical disorders of hydrogen ion metabolism. The somewhat elusive concepts of endogenous acid production and net acid balance have also been reviewed to help reveal the pathophysiology of metabolic acidosis caused by renal tubular acidosis, chronic renal failure, certain infant feedings, and total parenteral nutrition. The development and perpetuation of metabolic alkalosis in relationship to chloride and potassium deficiency have been examined. In the delineation of a clinical acid-base disorder, the clinician must bear in mind the continual interactions of electrolytes and hormonal systems and should be prepared to reevaluate frequently the elected therapy against the changing responses, based on a thorough understanding of physiology. The various types of renal tubular acidosis have manifold facets but the basic understanding of their pathophysiology begins with the concept of the "anion gap," a point of reference that can be used in the differential diagnosis and treatment. In this chapter a number of new causes of type IV renal tubular acidosis--currently considered to be the most common form of renal tubular acidosis--have been pointed out, along with special reference to the mineral, electrolyte, and aldosterone metabolism in the various acidoses and current means of reversing growth failure in the child, especially through bicarbonate treatment. The mechanism of metabolic acidosis in chronic renal failure including metabolic acidosis in children undergoing dialysis and in recipients of kidney transplantation, and its relationships to mineral and electrolyte metabolism have been presented. The pathophysiology of the acidosis related to certain infant formulas and the acidogenic properties of some amino acid solutions employed in total parenteral nutrition have been briefly reviewed. Finally, the metabolic alkalosis seen in a variety of chloride deficiency syndromes, such as Bartter's syndrome and dietary chloride deprivation, has been discussed and a rational approach to evaluation and treatment outlined.

[Renal tubular acidosis].

Renal tubular acidosis (RTA) can be separated into three main types: distal RTA (the defect in the excretion of hydrogen ion), proximal RTA (the defect in the reabsorption of bicarbonate), and hyperkalemic RTA. Some patients present combined types of proximal and distal RTA. Most of the pediatric patients with RTA manifest failure to thrive. They have hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis and normal plasma anion gap. Fractional excretion of bicarbonate is below 5% in dRTA and over 15% in pRTA. Renal complications of dRTA are nephrocalcinosis, renal calculi, renal cysts and reversible low molecular weight proteinuria. The patient with isolated pRTA is very rare.

[Renal tubular acidosis (RTA)].

Renal tubular acidosis (RTA) is applied to a group of transport defects involving the reabsorption of bicarbonate (proximal RTA or type II), the excretion of hydrogen ion (distal RTA or type I), or both (type III). Aldosteron deficiency and resistant state to aldosteron form hyperkalemic RTA which is called type IV RTA. A large number of etiologies of RTA have been identified. Almost all RTA in childhood are congenital. In contrast, almost all RTA in adulthood are secondary. Two renal complications such as low molecular weight proteinuria and renal cyst formation have recently been described in distal RTA. Molecular defects of RTA will be identified in the near future.

Type 4 renal tubular acidosis in a patient with lupus nephritis.

Although renal tubular acidosis (RTA) is a rare complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), type 4 RTA associated with lupus nephritis is extremely rare. A 20-year-old woman presented with malaise and edema in the lower extremities and face. She had multiple lymphadenopathies. There were 20% eosinophil in blood smear and 32% in bone marrow aspiration. Serology revealed positive antinuclear antibody at 1:1000 titer, positive double-stranded DNA antibodies, and low complements C3 and C4 levels. Urinary sediment was active and urinary protein excretion was 4.8 g/d. The SLE Disease Activity Index score was 23. A high SLE Disease Activity Index scores was proposed as a potential risk factor for type 4 RTA. Type 4 RTA may complicate SLE, and specifically, patients with high SLEDAI scores and lymphadenopathy may pose a high risk. Our patient responded successfully to immunomodulatory therapy.