Treating crescentic glomerulonephritis by targeting macrophages

Macrophage accumulation in the kidney is associated with the progression of crescentic glomerulonephritis (GN) and is mostly derived from circulating monocytes. FROUNT, a C-C motif chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2)-interacted protein, which is strongly expressed in monocytes/macrophages, enhances macrophage infiltration through CCR2-mediated chemotaxis. In this issue of the journal, Toda et al. reported that disulfiram, an inhibitor of FROUNT, attenuates GN by inhibition of the FROUNT-CCR2 interaction and macrophage migration and activation, suggesting a potential therapeutic role for crescentic GN.