This paper summarizes the impact that wars had on the history of nephrology, both worldwide and in the Ghent Medical Faculty notably on the definition, research and clinical aspects of acute kidney injury. The paper briefly describes the role of 'trench nephritis' as observed both during World War I and II, supporting the hypothesis that many of the clinical cases could have been due to Hantavi...

The evolution of the vertebrate kidney records three occasions, each separated by about 50 million years, when fish have abandoned glomeruli to produce urine by tubular mechanisms. The recurring dismissal of glomeruli suggests a mechanism of aglomerular urine formation intrinsic to renal tubules. Indeed, the transepithelial secretion of organic solutes and of inorganic solutes such as sulfate, ...

Erythropoietin (EPO) formation in kidneys of 18 patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) was investigated. In 12 patients on hemodialysis and in 6 patients with preterminal renal failure serum, EPO was 29 +/- 7 and 16 +/- 1.5 mU/ml and hemoglobin concentrations were 11.0 +/- 0.6 and 12.7 +/- 1.2 g/dl, respectively. Cyst fluid from a total of 357 renal cysts was obtaine...

The number of kidney allotransplants performed per year is limited by the availability of human donor organs. Xenotransplantation of a vascularized organ, such as the kidney, as an alternative to allotransplantation presents formidable immunological challenges. One novel solution to this conundrum is to use embryonic kidneys taken from animal donors early during organogenesis when metanephroi c...