Significance of the markers of endothelial dysfunction and hemorheological disorders for assessing the activity and prognosis of chronic glomerulonephritis

Aim. to define the clinical value of changes in blood rheological properties and renal endothelial function in patients with hematuric and nephritic forms of chronic glomerulonephritis (CGN) and to ascertain whether the indices under study can be applied to assess the activity (progression) of nephritis and used as a prognostic criteria.
Subjects and methods. Sixty-one patients, including 30 with hematuric nephritis (Group 1) and 31 with nephrotic nephritis (Group 2), were examined. A control group consisted of 12 healthy individuals. The rheological properties of blood, such as its viscosity; kinetics of spontaneous aggregation and disaggregation of red blood cells in shear flow; their deformability; urinary excretion of functionally active von Willebrandt factor (WF), a plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1); urine total fibrinolytic activity (UTFA), activity of urinary urokinase-type plasminogen activator (UPA) were studied.
Results. The patients with CGN were found to have signs of impaired blood rheological properties (increased viscosity, an accelerated rapid phase of erythrocyte aggregation, increased strength of erythrocyte aggregates) and vascular endothelial dysfunction in the microcirculatory bed, among other factors, increased urinary excretion of functionally active WF, PAI-1, which correlated with the activity of CGN. Data were obtained on the negative impact of the level of urinary PAI-1 excretion, red blood cell aggregation on the prognosis of CGN regardless of its form, the markers of endothelial damage/ activation. Low urokinase activity and decreased red blood cell deformability in parallel with higher diurnal proteinuria are of poor prognostic value for hematuric nephritis.
Conclusion. The findings illustrate two ways of the involvement of the endothelium in the mechanisms contributing to the development of tubular interstitial fibrosis, namely: endothelial dysfunction and as a substrate that links the processes of immune inflammation, hemorheology, and fibrinolysis/proteolysis in the kidney. The regularities revealed by clinical and laboratory comparison suggest that the indices under study may be used to determine the prognosis of the disease and may serve as a basis for the application of treatments aimed at correcting the detected disorders.

endothelial dysfunction, hemostasis, active chronic pyelonephritis