Interstitial nephritis in a case of phenylbutazone hypersensitivity

Renal impairment after acute diclofenac, naproxen, and sulindac overdoses

Acute renal dysfunction has been described as a feature of acute overdoses of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs benoxaprofen, fenoprofen, ibuprofen, mefenamic acid, piroxicam, suprofen, and zomepirac. The cases reported here include renal impairment after acute overdoses of another three nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: diclofenac (one case), naproxen (two cases), and sulindac (five cases). The eight patients presented with lumbar pain and oliguria and had protein and erythrocytes in the urine. Serum creatinine was increased to a maximum of 190-932 mumol/L. Renal impairment was generally transient but in one case was treated by hemodialysis and one by continuous arterio-venous hemofiltration dialysis. In all cases of significant acute overdose of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, the risk of acute renal dysfunction must be considered.

Renal disorders in rheumatoid arthritis

Renal disorders are a frequent cause of death in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but are less apparent in living RA patients. In part, this may be because of insensitive screening methods. In this review, some of the relations among renal pathology, renal function, and antirheumatic therapy are clarified. A classification of renal disorders according to etiology is proposed. Two categories of disorders are distinguished: those related to RA and its complications, and those related to drug therapy. The disorders belonging to these categories are reviewed. Finally, a case is made for the existence of a third category, "RA nephropathy." It is hypothesized that this mild and nonspecific nephropathy is the result of cumulative minor insults caused by the disease and its therapy. The presence of such a "subclinical" nephropathy would explain the greater sensitivity of RA patients to other renal insults, and the high prevalence of renal failure at death.

Reversible non-oliguric impairment of renal function during azapropazone treatment

An impairment of the renal function was observed in three patients who received azapropazone for various rheumatic disorders with simultaneous hyperuricaemia. A distinct increase in serum creatinine occurred in all patients. In one case the renal biopsy suggested a hypersensitivity reaction with a consequent acute tubulo-interstitial nephritis as the mechanism of the impaired renal function. The renal insufficiency was reversible in all cases after the withdrawal of azapropazone.

Effects of non-narcotic analgesics on the kidney

Non-narcotic analgesics have acute and chronic effects on the kidney. Until quite recently chronic effects have received much more attention than acute effects. Renal papillary necrosis attributed to prolonged intake of analgesic compounds was first described from Switzerland in the 1950s, and subsequently in many countries including Scandinavia, Australia, Belgium and Canada. Renal papillary necrosis is now accepted as an effect of over-the-counter analgesic compounds and has also been recorded with many individual non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Evidence suggests that uroepithelial tumours also occur as a complication of prolonged abuse of analgesic compounds. Clinical evidence associating renal papillary necrosis with compound analgesics and NSAIDs has been backed up by experimental evidence showing that these drugs cause renal papillary necrosis in animals. Acute effects of non-narcotic analgesics have been described mainly in association with aspirin and NSAIDs. In high renin states, including salt-depleted normal subjects, NSAID administration may be associated with an acute decrease in renal function, which is more obvious in patients who have underlying renal disease. Clinical syndromes which occur in association with NSAIDs include oedema, hyperkalaemia and acute renal failure and the acute nephrotic syndrome. Acute renal failure may be associated with acute interstitial nephritis and the nephrotic syndrome or may be due to acute tubular necrosis. Patients who have the nephrotic syndrome show fusion of foot processes of glomerular epithelial cells on electron microscopy as well as acute interstitial nephritis. Patients who suffer these episodes of acute renal function deterioration associated with NSAIDs recover slowly after withdrawal of the drugs, and the recovery may not be complete.

Effects of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on prostaglandins and renal function

In the past 15 years, there has been an explosion in the number of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on the market. Along with this explosion have come increasing reports of the physiologic and pathologic changes seen in the kidneys. This report reviews the effects of prostaglandins on the kidney and the physiologic changes that result when prostaglandin synthesis is blocked. The world literature on renal complications of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is reviewed and 274 cases of acute renal disease associated with their use are reported. The following cases are described: nephrotic syndrome (34); acute interstitial nephritis (51); acute tubular necrosis (29); papillary necrosis (53); poor perfusion with renal failure (40); acute glomerulitis or vasculitis (13); and unspecified renal failure (102). Fenoprofen appeared to be more nephrotoxic than other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and resulted in multiple renal lesions in the same patient.

Adverse effects of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on the kidney

The purpose of this article is to outline the reported renal complications associated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and to identify those individuals at risk to develop these complications.

Renal effects of antipyretic analgesics

Most antipyretic analgesics can cause acute nephrotoxic effects, including acute tubular necrosis, acute interstitial nephritis, glomerular toxicity, and functional changes, such as "salicyl edema," following large doses of sodium salicylate. Most functional changes are related to acute suppression of prostaglandin synthesis, "the acute prostaglandin-effect," and have been primarily noted with the use of indomethacin. The association between prolonged and excessive consumption of compound analgesics and the development of renal disease and renal failure, characterized by renal papillary necrosis, is now well established. Studies in several countries have shown that the incidence of analgesic nephropathy as an indication for dialysis and transplantation corresponds to the per capita consumption of phenacetin in compound analgesics. Analgesic nephropathy, which is part of a wider clinical syndrome, the analgesic syndrome, is uncommon following the use of single analgesics. Analgesic nephropathy and the analgesic syndrome are discussed in detail, including the development of uroepithelial tumors.

Pharmacology of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Practical review for clinicians

Aspirin and the newer nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are the mainstay of basic therapy in rheumatoid arthritis and the other rheumatic diseases. Despite its many years of clinical use, the pharmacologic actions of aspirin are still not fully understood; those of many of the newer nonsteroidals may offer significant advantages in terms of long-term safety. Studies in animals and normal human volunteers, as well as clinical trials, provide useful information about the absorption, metabolism, excretion, efficacy, appropriate dosage, and safety of a given nonsteroidal agent. Because all of the newer agents have been developed using the same basic animal tests of efficacy, they all closely resemble indomethacin. Differences in half-life, however, may be important in determining the relative safety of a nonsteroidal, especially in older patients. Most of the nonsteroidals bind only to albumin, and therefore have a kind of built-in safety mechanism: once the albumin binding sites are saturated, free drug is rapidly excreted by the kidney and drug accumulation is prevented. Despite this fact, the clinician must be concerned about two frequent sorts of problems that may arise from the prostaglandin-inhibiting effects of the nonsteroidals. Gastrointestinal side effects may include minor symptoms; diffuse gastritis; small erosions of the gastric mucosa, visible only by endoscope; and frank ulceration, which may rarely be life-threatening. Animal studies, various tests in normal volunteers, and pre-marketing clinical studies may all shed light on the relative ulcerogenicity of a given nonsteroidal agent. Long-term clinical experience especially helps indicate which agents appear to be more ulcerogenic than average and which appear to be less than average. Renal effects of the nonsteroidals are also related to their inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis. The most serious of these--a characteristic kind of interstitial nephritis, renal papillary necrosis, and hyperkalemia--are fortunately rare, but some classes of patients--the elderly, those with impaired renal function, and those receiving diuretics--are at increased risk. For these patients, any nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug should be prescribed with caution and appropriate monitoring of renal function.

[Renal failure caused by non-steroid anti-inflammatory agents]

This review of literature about non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs renal accidents is an analysis of acute pathology and a study of renal dysfunctions induced by these drugs. Each chapter allows a physiopathologic study. The care of anti-inflammatory drugs utilisation is specified.

Interstitial nephritis

The clinical and pathological findings are reviewed in ten cases where renal biopsy showed abnormalities predominantly within the interstitium. In six the nephritis was considered to be drug-induced; in two the aetiology was slightly obscure but the most likely diagnosis was considered to be sarcoidosis. Of the remaining two cases one was chronic pyelonephritis and the other polyarteritis nodosa. The diagnosis and pathogenesis of the renal lesions are discussed and attention is drawn to the importance of distinguishing primary interstitial changes from those found in association with glomerular disease.