Heroin-associated chronic kidney disease

Abstract

Abuse of psychoactive substances is a huge worldwide problem, and its association with chronic renal damage is not an uncommon complication. The main pathologic syndromes which have been associated with heroin abuse include: nephrotic syndrome, amyloidosis, interstitial nephritis and acute glomerulonephritis. From the clinical and therapeutic points of view, the chronic renal damage associated with heroin abuse does not differ from the chronic kidney disease in general, regardless of its etiology. In this article a review is presented on chemical and biological aspects of heroin, as well as on the epidemiology and physiopathology of the heroin-associated nephropathy.