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Background: Primary focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is a common cause of nephrotic syndrome., Aims: The pathogenic steps leading to primary FSGS are still obscure, although evidence suggests that circulatory factor(s) are involved in the onset of disease., Results: Recent technical advances allow the analysis of miRNA expression in tissues and body fluids, leading to reports of miRNAs involved in the molecular mechanisms of FSGS-aetiopathogenesis. Moreover, investigations have also highlighted miRNAs that might serve as biomarkers for primary FSGS., Discussion/conclusions: The aim of this review was to summarize reports showing a direct relation between miRNAs and primary FSGS. In addition, the impact of identified miRNAs on treatment response, prediction of the disease onset as well as the regulation in different disease activities is summarized., (© 2016 Stichting European Society for Clinical Investigation Journal Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) contribute to chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression via regulating mRNAs involved in renal homeostasis. However, their association with clinical outcome remains poorly understood., Materials and Methods: We performed miRNA and mRNA expression profiling on renal biopsy sections by qPCR (miRNA) and microarrays (mRNA) in a discovery (n = 43) and in a validation (n = 29) cohort. miRNAs differentiating stable and progressive cases were inversely correlated with putative target mRNAs, which were further characterized by pathway analysis using KEGG pathways., Results: miR-30d, miR-140-3p, miR-532-3p, miR-194, miR-190, miR-204 and miR-206 were downregulated in progressive cases. These seven miRNAs correlated with upregulated 29 target mRNAs involved in inflammatory response, cell-cell interaction, apoptosis and intra-cellular signalling. In particular, miR-206 and miR-532-3p were associated with distinct biological processes via the expression of their target mRNAs: Reduced expression of miR-206 in progressive disease correlated with the upregulation of target mRNAs participating in inflammatory pathways (CCL19, CXCL1, IFNAR2, NCK2, PTK2B, PTPRC, RASGRP1 and TNFRSF25). Progressive cases also showed a lower expression of miR-532-3p and an increased expression of target transcripts involved in apoptosis pathways (MAP3K14, TNFRSF10B/TRAIL-R2, TRADD and TRAF2). In the validation cohort, we confirmed the decreased expression of miR-206 and miR-532-3p, and the inverse correlation of these miRNAs with the expression of nine of the 12 target genes. The levels of the identified miRNAs and the target mRNAs correlated with clinical parameters and histological damage indices., Conclusions: These results suggest the involvement of specific miRNAs and mRNAs in biological pathways associated with the progression of CKD., (© 2015 Stichting European Society for Clinical Investigation Journal Foundation.)