Diagnostic tool to determine podocyte foot process effacement

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for diagnosing or pre-diagnosing a disease associated with podocyte foot process effacement in a subject or for determining the risk of a subject to develop a disease associated with podocyte foot process effacement, said method comprising the steps of a) determining the length of the slit diaphragm (ISD) formed by podocyte foot processes in a specific area A in a renal tissue sample of said subject by super resolution light microscopy; b) comparing the length of the slit diaphragm (ISD) formed by podocyte foot processes in a specific area A as determined in step (a) with the length of the slit diaphragm (ISD) formed by podocyte foot processes in a comparable specific area A in a renal tissue sample of a subject who at the time of the sampling showed no clinical symptoms of a disease associated with podocyte foot process effacement, wherein a deviation indicates a disease associated with podocyte foot process effacement.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.