Study Status: Completed
Recruit Status: Completed
Study Type: Interventional
Official Title: Permeability Factor in Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis
Brief Summary:
Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is a renal syndrome characterized by proteinuria (usually nephrotic range), limited response to conventional therapy, and a poor renal prognosis, with progression to end stage renal failure in at least 50% of patients. As a syndrome, FSGS likely has many specific etiologies, only a few of which are well-defined. Recently, it has been suggested that some idiopathic FSGS patients have elevated circulating levels of a protein that induces glomerular permeability in vitro and in vivo. While there has been no consistent term for this factor, it will be termed here FSGS permeability factor (FPF).
The purposes of the present study are five fold:
Patient participation is divided into an evaluation phase, in which FPF levels, RNA expression profiles, and patient eligibility for participation in treatment protocols are determined, and a treatment phase in which specific immunomodulatory therapy is intro