The Future of Nephrology and Public Health.

The study of kidney diseases has been described since the Hippocratic era, but nephrology as a medical specialty dates from the mid-20th century. Despite all interesting aspects of nephrology, there is a lack of interest by young physicians for the specialty worldwide. Great discoveries have been made throughout the years, leading to great achievements in diagnosis, classification, and treatment of kidney diseases. There is a current interest in the search for novel biomarkers for early detection of kidney dysfunction, and, in the future, there will be novel diagnostic tests for kidney diseases. There have been significant improvements in dialysis and transplant techniques, and novel modalities are being studied, including new renal replacement therapy modalities, such as the wearable artificial kidney. Another trend in the contemporary world, and one that should increase in the future, is the increasing patient connectivity, using novel technologies that will allow access to healthcare and improve outcomes.

IgA nephropathy: "State of the art": a report from the 15th International Symposium on IgA Nephropathy celebrating the 50th anniversary of its first description.

On September 27-29, 2018, the International Symposium on IgA Nephropathy, organized by the International IgA Nephropathy Network, was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first description of IgA nephropathy by Berger and Hinglais in 1968. The meeting was attended by over 200 scientists and clinicians from 26 different countries across the globe. We report some key insights drawn from the meeting-including the molecular pathogenesis, genetics, pathology, and therapeutics of IgA nephropathy.

[French-Brazilian school of nephrology]. / L'école Franco-Brésilienne de néphrologie.

The recent history of French and Brazilian medicine goes back to the first decades of the xixth century. As regards nephrology, the first links were established starting in the 1950s of the xxth century. Over the past 60 years, the scientific production of the Franco-Brazilian school of nephrology totalized more than a thousand scientific papers and created a new generation of more than two hundred disciples, formed in Brazil by nephrologists who had completed their studies in France. In this article, we would like to memorize the successive exchanges between French and Brazilian physicians, mainly in the field of nephrology.

The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in 2011: role in hypertension and chronic kidney disease.

Over the past two decades, considerable advances have been made in our understanding of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) and its roles in various disease states. In this review, we will discuss the current state of knowledge of the many components of the RAAS, including new data on prorenin and its receptors, and important angiotensin fragments. The roles of these components of the RAAS in the pathogenesis of primary hypertension and the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) will also be highlighted. Given the new understanding of the many components and roles of the RAAS, it may be possible to develop improved therapies for hypertension and CKD.

[In memoriam: Professor José Silvério Santos Diniz (1935-2011)]. / Em memória: Professor José Silvério Santos Diniz (1935-2011).

Professor José Silvério Santos Diniz, an exponent of the Brazilian Pediatric Nephrology, died on 23 May, 2011. This editorial is a brief description of the career of this great Brazilian teacher, physician and researcher.