Oxidative stress and renal interstitial fibrosis in patients after renal transplantation: current state of knowledge.

Long-term outcomes in renal transplantation has represented a major challenge for transplantologists and nephrologists for many years. The use of a new generation of immunosuppressive drugs has contributed to reducing the incidence of acute rejection episodes, but chronic allograft nephropathy is the cause of renal allograft loss in ∼50% of recipients. Organ fibrosis is the main histopathologic finding in those cases. Many researchers have focused on mechanisms leading to fibrosis. It is thought that an explanation of the pathologic mechanism of this phenomenon may improve long-term effects of therapy for kidney transplant recipients.