GENDER DIFFERENCES IN RENAL DISEASE

Description

The global increase of overweight, obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) has epidemic proportions. Worldwide, more than two billion (2x109) subjects are overweight or obese and about 400 million people have diabetes, a number that will rise to 600 million by 2035. This pandemic may portend severe consequences in Nephrology. Identifying those subjects with obesity and/or diabetes at risk for renal damage is crucial. This may help optimizing preventive strategies and new treatments aiming at treating renal disease.

Women, in particular after menopause, have an increased risk for obesity, metabolic syndrome and diabetes. This seems to increase the risk for chronic kidney disease. In this line, rapid renal function loss in the absence of proteinuria seems to be more frequent in women. This may indicate a specific gender effect in renal damage in the context of obesity and diabetes. However, evidence from pre-clinical models is limited and that from clinical studies scarce. Women may have lower renal mass than men, as well as different aspects of renal morphology and physiology. Sexual hormones, oestrogen in particular, have important roles in renal physiology. All these aspects may predispose to renal damage in specific contexts. These and other issues will be discussed in this CME of the DOKI project.

Course content

• Renal endowment in men and women
• Gender differences in renal physiology
• The impact of mmetabolic demand and renal
• Diabetic Kidney Disease
• Renal disease in obesity and metabolic syndrome
• Menopause and renal disease
• Gender differences in GFR decline
• Estrogens and the kidneys
• Preclinical models of renal disease in obesity and diabetes