Diabetes, inflammation, proinflammatory cytokines, and diabetic nephropathy.

Diabetes and its complications have become a public health problem. Diabetic nephropathy is the main cause of renal failure. In spite of our higher knowledge on this complication, the intimate mechanisms leading to the development and progression of renal injury are not yet fully known. Activated innate immunity and inflammation are relevant factors in the pathogenesis of diabetes. Moreover, inflammation, and more specifically proinflammatory cytokines and other molecules with a relevant role within the inflammatory process, may be critical factors in the development of microvascular diabetic complications, including nephropathy. This new pathogenic perspective may lead to important new therapeutic considerations and new therapeutic goals for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy.