For several decades, glucocorticoids have been used empirically to treat rapid progressive
GN. It is commonly assumed that glucocorticoids act primarily by dampening the immune
response, but the mechanisms remain incompletely understood. In this study, we inactivated
the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) specifically in kidney epithelial cells using Pax8-Cre/GR fl/fl
mice. Pax8-Cre/GR fl/fl mice did not exhibit an overt spontaneous phenotype. In mice treated
with nephrotoxic serum to induce crescentic nephritis (rapidly progressive GN), this genetic …