ArticleKidney international reports2026
Associations Between Toxic Metal Exposure and Childhood Nephrotic Syndrome.
Article in Kidney international reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Interpreting Postdiagnosis Toenail Metal Measurements in Childhood Nephrotic Syndrome.Kidney international reports · 2026Article
- Response to the Letter to the Editor Entitled "Interpreting Postdiagnosis Toenail Metal Measurements in Childhood Nephrotic Syndrome".Kidney international reports · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
17 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: Mercury intoxication causes nephrotic syndrome in children and adults. It is unknown if chronic low-grade metal exposure is a risk factor for childhood nephrotic syndrome. We aimed to evaluate the associations between metal exposure and childhood nephrotic syndrome outcomes. Methods: We analyzed data from the Insight into Nephrotic Syndrome: Investigating Genes, Health, and Therapeutics (INSIGHT) study, a prospective childhood nephrotic syndrome cohort. We included children (aged 1-18 years) with nephrotic syndrome from the Greater Toronto Area, Canada, excluding congenital or secondary nephrotic syndrome. Toenail clippings were collected and tested for total mercury, copper, arsenic, selenium, cadmium, tin, and lead concentrations. We evaluated associations between individual and mixed metal concentrations and relapse rate, steroid resistance, frequent relapses or steroid dependence, and steroid-sparing immunosuppression use using regression analysis. Results: Nail samples from 298 children with nephrotic syndrome were analyzed. Less than 1% had nail mercury and 10% had other metal concentrations above the reference limits. None had metal concentrations in a potentially toxic range. There were no significant associations between nail mercury concentration and nephrotic syndrome relapses (relative rate: 1.05, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.96-1.14), steroid resistance (odds ratio: 0.90, 95% CI: 0.59-1.32), frequent relapses or steroid dependence (odds ratio: 1.01, 95% CI 0.83-1.24), or steroid-sparing medication use (odds ratio: 1.12, 95% CI: 0.92-1.35). In addition, concentrations of other individual or combined metals were not associated with nephrotic syndrome outcomes. Conclusion: Evidence of high exposure to mercury and other toxic heavy metals is rare among Canadian children with nephrotic syndrome. We did not find evidence that chronic exposure to toxic heavy metals is associated with nephrotic syndrome outcomes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.