Nephropathy, also known as kidney disease, means damage to or disease of a kidney. Nephrosis is non-inflammatory nephropathy. Nephritis is inflammatory kidney disease.
Causes of nephropathy include deposition of the IgA antibodies in the glomerulus, administration of analgesics, xanthine oxidase deficiency, toxicity of chemotherapy agents, and long-term exposure to lead or its salts. Chronic conditions that can produce nephropathy include systemic lupus erythematosus, diabetes mellitus and high blood pressure (hypertension), which lead to diabetic nephropathy and hypertensive nephropathy, respectively.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidney_disease
Resources: