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In the kidney disease clinic setting, higher-than-usual blood pressure is often ascribed to recent dietary sodium indiscretion. While clinical trials demonstrate a clear relationship between salt intake and blood pressure on the population level, it is uncertain whether real-world variation in sodium intake within individual chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients is associated with fluctuations in blood pressure.

Vascular calcification is common among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), and it is associated with all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality. Deoxycholic acid, a metabolite of circulating bile acids, is elevated in CKD and induces vascular mineralization and osteogenic differentiation in animal models.

Data regarding the effect of a solitary kidney during pregnancy have come from studies of living kidney donors. We evaluated the risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes in women with a single kidney from renal agenesis.

Background Hyperuricemia is an independent predictor of impaired fasting glucose and type 2 diabetes, but whether it has a causal role in insulin resistance remains controversial. Here we tested the hypothesis that lowering uric acid in hyperuricemic nondiabetic subjects might improve insulin resistance.Methods Subjects with asymptomatic hyperuricemia (n = 73) were prospectively placed on allopurinol (n = 40) or control (n = 33) for 3 months. An additional control group consisted of 48 normouricemic subjects. Serum uric acid, fasting glucose, fasting insulin, HOMA-IR (homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein were measured at baseline and at 3 months.Results Allopurinol-treated subjects showed a reduction in serum uric acid in association with improvement in fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin, and HOMA-IR index, as well as a reduction in serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. The number of subjects with impaired fasting glucose significantly decreased in the allopurinol group at 3 months compared with baseline (n = 8 [20%] vs n = 30 [75%], 3 months vs baseline, P< 0.001). In the hyperuricemic control group, only glucose decreased significantly and, in the normouricemic control, no end point changed.Conclusions Allopurinol lowers uric acid and improves insulin resistance and systemic inflammation in asymptomatic hyperuricemia. Larger clinical trials are recommended to determine if lowering uric acid can help prevent type 2 diabetes.

Iron deficiency anemia and serum phosphate levels > 4.0mg/dL are relatively common in chronic kidney disease stages 3 to 5 and are associated with higher risks of progressive loss of kidney function, cardiovascular events, and mortality.

IMPORTANCE: Little is known about the necessity of multiple same-day intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements in describing the effect of IOP-lowering surgical procedures, and such evidence could affect surgical trial recruitment and retention of participants. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a single IOP measurement might adequately approximate the mean of several measurements in glaucoma surgical trials. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A prospective, multicenter, interventional cohort from the prerandomization phase of a randomized clinical trial evaluating use of a supraciliary implant for treatment of IOP was conducted at multiple ophthalmology clinics. A total of 609 patients (609 eyes) with primary open-angle glaucoma and cataract were included. INTERVENTIONS: One IOP measurement was made while patients were receiving their usual medications to lower IOP, and 3 IOP measurements were made at 8 am, 12 pm, and 4 pm after patients underwent washout of all IOP-lowering eyedrops. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The proportion of eyes in which the increase in IOP after washout, using the mean of the 3 measurements, differed by more than 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0 mm Hg from the increase in IOP after washout using only 1 of the postwashout measurements. A proportion of 10% or less at the 1.5–mm Hg cutoff was considered clinically acceptable. The hypothesis was formulated after data collection but before the data were examined. RESULTS: The mean (SD) IOP before washout was 18.5 (4.0) mm Hg. The mean increase in IOP after washout, using the mean of the 3 measurements, was 5.3 (4.2) mm Hg. The percentage of eyes in which the increase in IOP using a single postwashout IOP differed from the increase in IOP using the mean of 3 measurements by more than 1.5 mm Hg was 35.1%, 25.6%, 34.2%, 30.0%, and 31.4% when the single measurement was made at 8 am, 12 pm, 4 pm, a randomly chosen single measure of those 3 times, and the time closest to that of the prewashout IOP, respectively. By logistic regression, the 12 pm postwashout IOP had the lowest proportion of eyes differing from the mean (P &lt; .001) and thus most closely approximated the mean diurnal IOP. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Although eliminating multiple IOP measurements would simplify the conduct of surgical trials in glaucoma, our data show that using a single IOP measurement after washout does not adequately approximate the mean of multiple IOP measurements.

The management of hyperphosphatemia in patients with moderate to severe chronic kidney disease (CKD) includes dietary phosphate restriction and/or prescription of phosphate binders. Measuring phosphate intake in CKD is important for monitoring dietary adherence and for the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions. The 24-hour urine collection is the gold standard method for determining phosphate intake; however, timed urine collections are cumbersome and prone to error. We investigated the precision and accuracy of spot urine phosphate measurements, compared to 24-hour urine phosphate (24hUrP) collection.

AbstractBackground/Aims:Serum phosphate (P) has been linked to adverse events in patients with chronic kidney disease. Salivary phosphate (Psal) has been proposed as a potential target of therapy with a chitosan-containing chewing gum. Methods:We conducted several pilot studies to characterize Psal and its relationship with kidney function and subsequently conducted two clinical efficacy studies: a double-blind placebo-controlled trial in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and an open-label trial in those with stage 3-4 CKD. Results:Pilot studies demonstrated no relationship between the level of kidney function and Psal. Mean Psal was approximately 6.46 mmol/l across the entire spectrum of kidney function. Passive saliva collection demonstrated higher Psal concentration as compared to active collection. There was no evidence of diurnal variation in Psal. Twice daily 20 mg chitosan gum over 4 weeks reduced serum P by 0.065 mmol/l in the double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in ESRD (p = NS vs. placebo). In an open-label extension in these subjects, 40 mg chitosan gum three times daily reduced serum P by 0.065 mmol/l (p = 0.03 vs. end of washout). In a 2-week open-label trial in patients with CKD not on dialysis, 20 mg chitosan gum given three times daily reduced serum P by 0.05 mmol/l (p = 0.003 vs. day 1). Neither trial demonstrated any significant change in Psal with chitosan gum. Conclusions:Psal concentration is approximately 4-5 times that of serum P and is not related to glomerular filtration rate. Chitosan chewing gum resulted in a reduction of serum P by approximately 0.05-0.065 mmol/l but had no effect on Psal concentration.Copyright © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel

Low vitamin D concentrations are prevalent in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). We investigated the relationship between plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) or 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25[OH]2D) concentrations with death, cardiovascular events, and dialysis therapy initiation in patients with advanced CKD.

The degree to which recipient/donor (R/D) size mismatching leads to nephron underdosing and worse kidney allograft survival remains poorly defined, particularly in the setting of preexisting nephron loss such as the expanded criteria donor (ECD).

Simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation (SPK) may provide superior patient and kidney graft survival compared with deceased donor kidney transplant alone (DD KA), not because of the addition of a pancreas transplant but because of differences in organ donor, recipient, and transplant characteristics.

This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of magnesium carbonate as a phosphate binder in hemodialysis patients.

36 male students, 29 undergraduate, and 7 graduate, were given a photograph of one of two women (one of whom was judged to be considerably more attractive than the other) and one of two “autobiographical” statements (one of which depicted a warm, friendly person and the other a cold, unfriendly person). Each subject examined the material from one of the four possible treatment levels and rated the woman for personality, social, and physical attractiveness. The subjects also rated themselves for physical attractiveness. Two 2 × 2 multivariate analyses of variance were performed to evaluate subjects' ratings of personality and social attractiveness and a 2 × 2 analysis of variance was used to evaluate ratings of physical attractiveness. Personality ratings were significantly increased by the friendliness and physical attractiveness of the stimulus while the social attractiveness of the woman was significantly increased only by her physical attractiveness. Ratings of physical attractiveness were significantly influenced only by the photographs. The subjects' self-ratings were uncorrelated with their ratings of the women's physical attractiveness.

The feasibility of using the pedometer to measure activity level was investigated. 35 male and 49 female subjects wore a pedometer and kept an activity diary for five consecutive days. The correlation between the two measures and the day-to-day reliability were examined. The pedometer showed high reliability and was strongly correlated (r= .72) with the diary. It was suggested that the pedometer particularly when combined with a descriptive tool, such as a diary, can be useful in research on the relationship of activity level to overweight and other health-related behaviors.

At 96 weeks after unilateral intravitreal injection of rAAV2/2-ND4, vision improved in both eyes in 78% of subjects affected with LHON.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is associated with high mortality rates. New biomarkers that can identify subjects with early AKI (before the increase in serum creatinine) are needed to facilitate appropriate treatment. The purpose of this study was to test the role of serum cytokines as biomarkers for AKI and prolonged mechanical ventilation.