Proteinuria in Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS)

The diagnosis of Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is made on the pattern of pathological change of kidneys under renal biopsy test. Proteinuria is a typical symptom in FSGS. FSGS is a severe kidney disorder. Whether proteinuria can be managed well will have a direct effect on the prognosis of FSGS.

What is FSGS? Why FSGS causes proteinuria?

FSGS is the diagnosis of kidney disease based on pathological type. Glomerulis are the filtering units of the kidneys. Each glomerulus is made of three layers, glomerular endothelium, glomerular basilar membrane and glomerular epithelium. The delicate structure of the glomeruli will ensure that the wasteful toxins are filtered out and the nutrients are stopped from leaking out. In focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, “focal” means that only some of the glomerulus are involved in (not all); and “segmental” means that only part of each glomerulus is involved, as composed to global; glomerulosclerosis refers to scarring of the glomerulus.

With FSGS, glomerular filtering cells are impaired thus causing an excess loss of proteins from urine. Proteinuria gets worsened with glomerular damage deteriorating. Proteinuria, in turn, can worsen renal interstitial fibrosis and deteriorate progression of FSGS.

How to manage proteinuria in FSGS?

FSGS is a severe kidney disorder. A certain part of glomerular cells are already damaged, and if not treated, more and more glomerular cells will be involved in, glomerular scarring gets worsened and some patients may develop into kidney failure rapidly. The intake of proteins should be restricted with the proteinuria. The management of high blood pressure will be beneficial to reduce glomerular filtration pressure, remit proteinuria and delay progression of the disease.

As we have known, immunosuppressive medicine treatment is the most common for proteinuria. Some patients may respond well, and some patients may find their proteinuria recurs and hard to be controlled. Hormone treatment may fail to control the illness condition in later stage. This may indicate an underlying uncontrollable renal inflammation. Applying suitable stronger effect immunosuppressive medicines combined with traditional Chinese medicine treatment will help to control proteinuria and prevents further damage to the kidneys.