Oh, what a joyous revelation! As we’ve gotten so darn good at keeping those tiny preemies alive (kudos to neonatal care, really), we’ve also inadvertently signed them up for the long-term kidney club nobody wants to join. Welcome to the world of chronic kidney disease (CKD), where preterm birth is like the secret VIP pass nobody asked for.

Now, let’s talk about the real stars of the show: podocytes. These little guys are the unsung heroes of your nephrons, which are, of course, the microscopic functional units of the kidney. But, oh dear, it seems we’ve been so busy patting ourselves on the back for our nephron number hypothesis that we’ve kind of overlooked these podocyte celebrities in the context of preterm birth and CKD.

So, in a stunning turn of events, this review is here to shed some light on the situation. It’s like saying, “Hey, we might have missed a spot in our understanding of how being born too early can lead to a lifetime subscription of kidney issues.” And by “might,” I mean we definitely did.

In summary, this paper is about to take you on a magical mystery tour of how prematurity can potentially mess with your kidneys, with a special VIP backstage pass to see the podocytes in action. Because, you know, it’s not like those born prematurely have enough on their plates already.