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The article focuses on the study relevant to the recommendation of the Japanese Society of Hypertension on calcium channel blockers (CCBs) as second line drugs next to the renin-angiotensin (Ang) system (RAS) inhibitor for hypertension with chronic kidney disease (CKD) treatment. It aims to find out the long-term effects of CCBs on arterial augmentation in CKD. It includes 26 non-diabetic CKD patients with amlodipine treatment and 27 patients on benidipine. The findings were discussed briefly.

Aim. Height is an important determinant of augmentation index (AI) that anticipates cardiovascular prognosis. There is a scanty of the data whether short height predicts survival in patients with end-stage renal diseases, a high risk population. Methods. Fifty two hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetic nephropathy receiving hemodialysis and 52 patients with nondiabetic nephropathy were enrolled. In addition to AI estimated with radial artery tonometry, classical cardiovascular risk factors were considered. Patients were followed for 2 years to assess cardiovascular prognosis. Results. Cox hazards regression revealed that both smoking and shortness in height independently contributed to total mortality and indicated that smoking as well as the presence of left ventricular hypertrophy predicted cardiovascular mortality. Our findings implicated that high AI, the presence of diabetes, and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were significant contributors to cardiovascular events. Conclusions. Our findings provide new evidence that shortness in height independently contributes to total mortality in hemodialysis patients.

The influence of interferon-beta (IFN-beta) dosing time on antiviral activity was investigated in ICR male mice under light-dark cycle conditions (lights on at 07:00, off at 19:00) with food and water available ad libitum. There was a significant dosing time-dependent change in 2',5'-oligoadenylate synthetase (2',5'-OAS) activities, as an index of antiviral activity, in liver at 12 h after IFN-beta (15 MIU/kg, i.v.) injection. IFN-beta-induced 2',5'-OAS activity was more potent after the drug injection during the late dark phase. The higher antiviral effect of IFN-beta was observed when the interferon-alpha/beta receptor (IFNAR) expression in the liver increased, and the lower effect was observed when its expression decreased. IFN-beta-induced fever was more serious after IFN-beta injection from the late dark phase to the early light phase. A significant dosing time-dependent change was demonstrated for plasma IFN-beta concentrations, which showed a higher level during the light phase and a lower level during the dark phase. The dosing time-dependent change of plasma IFN-beta concentrations was not associated with that of the antiviral effect or fever induced by IFN-beta. These results suggest that selecting the most suitable dosing time of IFN-beta, associated with the 24-h rhythm of IFNAR expression in the liver, may be important to increase effectively the antiviral activity of the drug in experimental and clinical situations.