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Balkan endemic nephropathy
Other Names for this Disease
- AAN
- Aristolochic acid nephropathy
- BEN
- Danubian endemic familial nephropathy
- DEFN
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Overview
Balkan endemic nephropathy is a kidney disease that affects people living in rural areas of Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, and Serbia. Affected individuals develop kidney damage that progresses to kidney failure. Many people with this condition also develop a type of bladder cancer known as upper urothelial carcinoma (UUC) or transitional cell carcinoma. Balkan endemic nephropathy is caused by eating bread that is contaminated with a toxin called aristolochic acid, which comes from a plant called Aristolochia. Balkan endemic nephropathy can occur in multiple family members, but it is not an inherited condition.[1]
References
- Grollman AP, Shibutani S, Moriya M, Miller F, Wu L, Moll U, et al. Aristolochic acid and the etiology of endemic (Balkan) nephropathy. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2007 Jul 17. http://www.pnas.org/content/104/29/12129.long. Accessed April 4, 2011.
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General Information
- PubMed is a searchable database of medical literature and lists journal articles that discuss Balkan endemic nephropathy. Click on the link to view a sample search on this topic.
- The The Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database contains genetics resources that discuss Balkan endemic nephropathy. Click on the link to go to OMIM and review these resources.
Selected Full-Text Journal Articles
- Grollman AP, Shibutani S, Moriya M, Miller F, Wu L, Moll U, et al. Aristolochic acid and the etiology of endemic (Balkan) nephropathy. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2007 Jul 17;104(29):12129-34. Available at: http:/
/ www.pnas.org/ content/ 104/ 29/ 12129.long.