*Review* **The Role of Heme Oxygenase-1 as an Immunomodulator in Kidney Disease**

**Virginia Athanassiadou 1, Stella Plavoukou 1, Eirini Grapsa <sup>1</sup> and Maria G. Detsika 2,\***


**Abstract:** The protein heme oxygenase (HO)-1 has been implicated in the regulations of multiple immunological processes. It is well known that kidney injury is affected by immune mechanisms and that various kidney-disease forms may be a result of autoimmune disease. The current study describes in detail the role of HO-1 in kidney disease and provides the most recent observations of the effect of HO-1 on immune pathways and responses both in animal models of immune-mediated disease forms and in patient studies.

**Keywords:** heme oxygenase; kidney; immune injury
