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| {{SK}} DEFN; Balkan endemic nephropathy; endemic nephropathy, Balkan; nephropathy, Balkan | | {{SK}} DEFN; Balkan endemic nephropathy; endemic nephropathy, Balkan; nephropathy, Balkan |
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| ==Causes==
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| The etiology for DEFN is currently unknown.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Batuman V |title=Fifty years of Balkan endemic nephropathy: daunting questions, elusive answers |journal=Kidney Int. |volume=69 |issue=4 |pages=644–6 |year=2006 |pmid=16467889 |doi=10.1038/sj.ki.5000231}}</ref>. It has recently been hypothesized that chronic exposure to dietary [[aristolochic acid]] is a major risk for DEFN. Aristolochic acid may come from ''[[Aristolochia clematitis]]'', a plant native to the endemic region, and its seeds may comingle with wheat used for bread.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Grollman AP, Shibutani S, Moriya M, ''et al'' |title=Aristolochic acid and the etiology of endemic (Balkan) nephropathy |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=104 |issue=29 |pages=12129–34 |year=2007 |pmid=17620607 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0701248104}}</ref> This theory has recently gained further support through research by Arthur P. Grollman, cancer biologist and the director of Stony Brook University's chemical biology lab in New York, and Bojan Jelaković, an associate professor at the Zagreb University School of Medicine. <ref>{{cite journal |author=Julia C. Mead |title=Manna from hell |journal=The Scientist |volume=21 |issue=11 |pages= 44 |year=2007 |pmid= |doi= |url=http://www.the-scientist.com/article/home/53787/}}</ref>
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| ==References== | | ==References== |