Nephrosis

nephrosis (nəfrō`səs), kidney disease characterized by lesions of the epithelial lining of the renal tubules, resulting in marked disturbance in the filtration function and the consequent appearance of large amounts of protein (albumin) in the urine (see urinary system). The nephrotic syndrome can result from a number of conditions including streptococcal infection in children leading to chronic glomerulonephritis, reaction to toxins, diabetes, collagen disease, and other end-stage kidney diseases. The major symptom is massive edema. Corticosteroid therapy has been successful in treating certain forms of the disease.

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nephrosis [nə′frō·səs]

(pathology)

Degenerative or retrogressive renal lesions, distinct from inflammation (nephritis) or vascular involvement (nephrosclerosis), especially as applied to tubular lesions (tubular nephritis). Also known as nephrodystrophy; nephropathy.

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Nephrosis 

an obsolete term for the nephrotic syndrome. The term was used to designate degenerative changes in the renal tubules accompanied by a massive excretion of protein in the urine, by a decrease in the protein content and an increase in the fat content of the blood, by edema, and by other symptoms.

Lipoid and amyloid nephroses were once classified as distinct diseases. Detailed histological studies of the kidneys, especially those studies that used the electron microscope and other research methods, have established that the glomeruli are affected in nephrosis as well as the tubules. Thus, there is no strict morphological difference between nephritis and nephrosis. Furthermore, clinical observations show that a disease that begins as lipoid nephrosis often acquires features of nephritis and, conversely, that glomerulonephritis develops into lipoid nephrosis.