As there are no specific cures for most of the acquired chronic kidney disease and as renal transplantation is limited by organ shortage present efforts should be concentrated on the prevention and progression of renal diseases (Perico et al 2008). In the 188th issue of NDT-E you can listen to several interesting lectures from the 2009 World Congress of Nephrology about aspects of progression of CKD. The first lecture is entitled  “Determinants of long-term CKD progression” and presented by Florian Kronenberg, Innsbruck, Austria. Giuseppe Remuzzi, Bergamo, Italy, will present the second lecture “Magic bullets or multiple interventions to reverse kidney progression”. Another interesting lecture on renoprotection entitled “Anti-proteinuric doses of RAS-inhibitors: Efficacy for renoprotection” will be presented by Fan Fan Hou, Guangzhou, China. Moreover, Nigel Brunskill, Leicester, UK will discuss “Tubular toxicity of proteinuria”. Finally, Dontscho Kerjaschki, Vienna, Austria, will present a lecture on the “Complexity of the filtration barrier”. I am confident that you can learn much from these great lectures.
In this issue of NDT-E you will also find a full NDT paper by Hwang et al. that report on the retrospective analysis of the relation between estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at the start of dialysis and outcome. They report that lower eGFR at dialysis initiation is associated with lower mortality. Given the increasing prevalence of CKD in the elderly population and the ability of chronic diseases to vastly accelerate development of cell senescence the review “SIRTing out the link between autophagy and ageing” by Michael S. Goligorsky will be of major interest for you to read. Dinucleoside polyphosphates are newly detected uraemic retention solutes. The results of a study published in NDT by Schepers et al suggest that the pro-inflammatory effects of dinucleoside polyphosphates can contribute to the development of atherosclerosis, probably in the early stages of chronic kidney disease, Finally, in full paper published in J of Nephrology Danilo Fliser will make a thorough critical appraisal on perspectives in renal disease progression with the endothelium as a treatment target.

Enjoy your NDT-E and do not forget to complete the survey about “Nephrology research in Europe”.

Peter Stenvinkel – Editor in Chief NDT-Educational