Volume 16 Issue 4, April 2020

The KALM-1 randomized double-blind placebo-controlled phase III trial showed that intravenous difelikefalin, a selective κ-opioid receptor agonist, significantly reduces itch intensity in haemodialysis patients with uraemic pruritus. However, 49% of difelikefalin-treated patients showed no improvement. In light of the increasing number of patients with end-stage renal disease, additional treatments are sorely needed.

Routinely collected data from electronic health records (EHRs) could potentially be used to facilitate clinical trials. Use of computational phenotypes shows promise for detecting trial-eligible paediatric patients; however, moving from EHR identification to recruitment requires consideration of legal, ethical and logistical challenges.

An episode of acute kidney injury (AKI) can predispose individuals to a variety of adverse clinical outcomes. In this Review, the authors discuss the potential long-term outcomes of AKI, as well as current and novel strategies to improve the follow-up care of AKI survivors.

Increasing evidence suggests that inflammation contributes to the development and progression of diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Here, the authors discuss the mechanisms by which innate immune pathways might contribute to DKD as well as the therapeutic potential of targeting these pathways.

Hypertension is the leading global cause of cardiovascular disease and premature mortality. In this Review, the authors describe the prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension worldwide, as well as risk factors for hypertension and the financial burden of this disease.

Applying single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to human tissues can reveal the phenotypic diversity of resident and infiltrating cells at high resolution. In this Review, the authors examine important design considerations for applying this technology to kidney cells and discuss current findings from scRNA-seq studies of lupus nephritis.