The Influence and Role of Microbial Factors in Autoimmune Kidney Diseases: A Systematic Review

Figure 1

The search strategy is shown. Of initial 2508 titles screened, the majority (2196 articles) were excluded due to not reporting on bacterial influence in primary glomerulonephritis. 244 reports were accessed in full text but could be excluded for not reporting on bacterial agents in primary glomerular diseases (i.e., postinfectious glomerulonephritis or virus-related kidney diseases). The bibliography of the retrieved articles revealed another 34 reports. One record reporting the same results and another one not indexed in common databases were excluded from final analysis, leading to a total number of 100 articles.