Mechanistic connection between inflammation and fibrosis.

Fibrosis of the kidney is caused by the prolonged injury and deregulation of normal wound healing and repair processes, and by an excess deposition of extracellular matrices. Despite intensive research, our current understanding of the precise mechanism of fibrosis is limited. There is a connection between fibrotic events involving inflammatory and non-inflammatory glomerulonephritis, inflammatory cell infiltration, and podocyte loss. The current review will discuss the inflammatory response after renal injury that leads to fibrosis in relation to non-inflammatory mechanisms.