ABSTRACT
The practice of modern nephrology commenced in China in the late 1950s. Since 1980s, with the opening of China to the outside World, nephrology has greatly developed. Chinese nephrologists have gradually become active members of the international nephrology community. Since the 1980s, nephrology has been gradually becoming an independent specialty in most large hospitals, including teaching hospitals affiliated to medical universities/colleges, province level hospitals, and the highest ranked hospitals in the metropolis. Lupus nephritis is one of the most common forms of secondary glomerulonephritis in China. In south China, the occurrence of renal damage was more than 80%, which takes up the highest incidence among all clinical manifestations in Systemic lupus erythematosus. Diabetic nephropathy is a leading cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in Western societies. Diabetes is the single largest cause of ESRD in the United States and in some European countries, accounting for over one-third of all patients beginning renal replacement therapy.
