IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is the most commonly diagnosed primary glomerulonephritis worldwide. It is a slow progressing disease with approximately 30% of cases reaching end-stage kidney disease within 20 years of diagnosis. It is currently only diagnosed by an invasive biopsy and treatment options are limited. However, the current surge in interest in RNA interference is opening up new horizons for the use of this new technology in the field of IgAN management. A greater understanding of the fundamentals of RNA interference offers exciting possibilities both for biomarker discovery and, more importantly, for novel therapeutic approaches to target key pathogenic pathways in IgAN. This review aims to summarise the RNA interference literature in the context of microRNAs and their association with the multifaceted aspects of IgA nephropathy.
Keywords: IgA nephropathy; RNA interference; microRNA.