Kidney

diseases manifesting as proteinuria or elevated creatinine are increasingly prevalent complications of HIV infection. Today HIV-associated nephropathy (HIVAN) is a main cause of end-stage renal disease in HIV-infected African-Americans, and it is likely to be a result of a recently identified genetic predisposition based on polymorphisms of the myosin heavy-chain 9 (MYH9) gene.1 However, a variety of other histopathological renal diseases affect HIV-infected subjects of all ethnic groups.1 HIV-associated renal disease with overt proteinuria has been associated with poorer outcomes and increased mortality.2 Moreover, an increased rate of urinary albumin excretion, even in the micro-albuminuric range, is an indicator of glomerular damage and has been found to be associated with an increased ris