Macrophage polarization in kidney diseases.

Macrophage accumulation associates closely with the degree of renal structural injury and renal dysfunction in human kidney diseases. Depletion of macrophages reduces while adoptive transfer of macrophages worsens inflammation in animal models of the renal injury. However, emerging evidence support that macrophage polarization plays a critical role in the progression of a number of kidney diseases including obstructive nephropathy, ischemia-reperfusion injury, glomerulonephritis, diabetic nephropathy, and other kidney diseases. In this mini-review, we briefly summarize the macrophage infiltration and polarization in these inflammatory and fibrotic kidney diseases, discussing the results mostly from studies in animal models. In view of the critical role of macrophage in the progression of these diseases, manipulating macrophage phenotype may be a potential effective strategy to treat various kidney diseases.