腎疾患に対する血球成分除去療法(<特集>血球成分除去療法の新しい展開)  [in Japanese] Cytapheresis in Kidney Diseases  [in Japanese]

Apheretic therapy for kidney disease was first applied to anti-glomerular basement membrane nephritis in 1975. From that report on, various cases and studies of apheresis for kidney diseases were reported. Plasma exchange for lupus nephritis or anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies (ANCA) related nephritis, or low-density lipoprotein apheresis for relapsing focal segmental glomerulonephritis were clinically valuable and established. Although several possibilities of cytapheresis for kidney diseases were speculated in animal experiments or human studies, clinical applications have been limited thus far. We previously reported a series of effective cases of leukocytapheresis (LCAP) for nephrotic syndrome. Moreover, efficacy of LCAP or granulocytapheresis for crescentic glomerulonephritis or ANCA related nephritis was also noted. As well as clinical benefits of cytapheresis, these reports revealed suggestive mechanisms of cytapheresis for the diseases. Moreover, these therapies would have great potential for the kidney diseases. Further studies will be needed to establish the effectiveness of cytapheresis for kidney diseases in more depth.