Balkan nephropathy

Abstract

Balkan endemic nephropathy (BN), frequently associated to upper urothelial cancer, is a familial chronic tubulointerstitial disease with insidious onset and slow progression to end-stage renal disease. After 60 years of research, its cause remains the major unanswered question. Etiology assumes polygenic susceptibility to the disease in interaction with multiple environmental factors. Chronic intoxication with Aristolochia is the major environmental risk factor for this disease. The mycotoxin hypothesis considers that BN is produced by ochratoxin A. The Pliocene lignite hypothesis assumes that the disease is caused by long-term exposure to organic toxins leached from coal nearby the endemic villages. Exome sequencing of 22,000 genes revealed that mutant genes (CELA1, HSPG2, and KCNK5) in BN patients encode proteins involved in basement membrane/extracellular matrix and vascular tone, which are tightly connected to the process of angiogenesis. SEC61G, IL17RA, and HDAC11 proved to be differently methylated throughout all patient-control pairs. The acetylation of histone lysine residues was detected and found increased at specific sites of H3 and total H4 histones isolated from urothelial cells of patients with BN. The results of molecular biological research will allow the discovery of genetic markers of BN and associated urothelial cancer, permitting early detection of BN-predisposing mutations and identification of susceptible individuals who might be at risk of exposure to environmental agents. The research of gene-gene and gene-environment interactions could lead to further studies to determine the precise risk for BN.