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BACKGROUND AND AIMS Current guidelines do not clarify whether older patients with advanced chronic kidney disease may benefit of low protein diet if they are at risk of malnutrition. We compared the effects of normo-calorie/normo-protein (NP) and normo-calorie/low protein diet (LP) on nutritional status and metabolic complications related to the progression of kidney damage in these patients. METHOD This pilot study had an open label randomized-controlled design (ClinicalTrials.gov Id: NCT05015647). Thirty-five patients were treated for six months with two different diets (LP = 17) and (NP = 18). Malnutrition was assessed by Malnutrition Inflammation Score and International Society of Renal Nutrition and Metabolism criteria. Renal function was assessed by creatinine and cystatin C based eGFR. RESULTS At the end of the study, Malnutrition Inflammation Score was improved in both LP and NP groups (respectively: 3 ± 3 versus 6 ± 1.5, P = 0.020 and 3 ± 2.5 versus 6 ± 2, P = 0.012), and prevalence of protein energy wasting syndrome decreased only in LP. LP group had higher eGFRcys-C (17 ± 6 versus 12 ± 4 mL/min/1.73 m2; P CONCLUSION LP diet has a favorable impact on nutritional status as much as NP diet with possible greater benefits on the progression of kidney disease and some of its metabolic complications.

Background and Aims Changes over time in eGFR and albuminuria provide better accuracy than baseline values for end-stage risk prediction in CKD patients, whereas no studies have evaluated the impact of changes in renal, cardiac, and BP parameters on cardiovascular (CV) outcome. Methods We prospectively evaluated 249 hypertensive CKD patients with available baseline and 2-year echocardiography and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). Outcome was a composite of death or any non fatal CV event. Predictors of outcome were tested by multivariable regression analysis. The accuracy of prediction models that included baseline and 2-year changes (Δ) in cardiac, renal and BP parameters was assessed by ROC analysis. Results During a follow-up period of 71 months, 69 CKD patients (28%) experienced a major CV event or died. By multivariable Cox regression analysis baseline nighttime pulse pressure (PP) (HR 1.01, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.04), left ventricular mass (LVMi) (HR 1.03, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.04), ejection fraction (EF) (HR 0.96, 95% CI 0.90 to 0.97), Δ nighttime PP (HR 1.04, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.07), Δ LVMi (HR 1.02, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.04), and ΔEF (0.93, 95% CI 0.89-0.97) were associated with outcome. A model that includes 2-year changes in LVMi, EF, proteinuria, and nighttime PP was more accurate than a model that only evaluated baseline values (Δc-statistic 0.08, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.13, P=0.006; net reclassification improvement -NRI- 0.24, P= < 0.0001). Conclusion Estimation of 2-year changes in renal, cardiac, and BP parameters improve the predictive accuracy of adverse CV outcome in CKD patients followed in tertiary care.

Background and Aims Beta-carboxyterminal telopeptide of type I collagen (beta-CTx) is considered a marker of bone resorption in patients affected by osteoporosis. Nevertheless, its role in mineral bone disorder (MBD) of CKD patients is not clear. The aim of this study was to explore in a group of haemodialysis patients (HDp): 1) The levels of beta-CTx; 2) The correlation between beta-CTx levels and other mineral metabolism (MM) parameters; 3) The association between beta-CTx and CKD-MBD specific therapy 4) The relation between beta-CTx and cardiac valvular calcifications (VC). Method We studied a group of 21 HDp (F/M 9/12, age 68[54-78] years) randomly selected from the HDp actually followed-up in our Department. Dialysis vintage was 52[23-80] months. All HDp were on a three-weekly hemodialysis schedule, with a prescribed dialysate calcium of 1.5 mmol/l. Before the first dialysis session of the week, after the long interdialytic interval, the levels of beta-CTx, total and ionized calcium (tCa and iCa), Phosphorus (P), Magnesium (Mg), intact PTH (iPTH), total and bone isoform of alkaline phosphatase (tALP and bALP), 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHVD), 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25OH2VD), and other general biochemical parameters were measured (Figure 1). At the same time, data concerning MM therapies were recorded. In all the studied patients, the presence of VC was searched in the the most recent echocardiographic study. Results Beta-CTx levels showed a significant positive correlation with tALP (r 0.92, p No difference was found in beta-CTx levels according to the presence and the type of each of the above mentioned therapies. Conclusion Taking into account the limitations of this preliminary small size observational study, our data showed that beta-CTx levels are high in HDp. Beta-CTx correlates with iPTH, tALP and bALP. The negative correlation with tCa and iCa probably might be influenced by the negative correlation between iPTH and serum Calcium. Beta-CTx levels are not associated with CKD-MBD specific therapy or with cardiac valvular calcifications. Further prospective and randomized studies, including a higher number of HDp and possibly bone histology are needed to elucidate the possible role of beta-CTx as a marker of bone disease in HDp.

Chronic metabolic acidosis (CMA) is a common complication of the more advanced stages of chronic kidney diseases (CKD), and is associated with morbidity and mortality of CKD patients and possibly with the progression of renal disease. Nevertheless, there is limited evidence or information on the prevalence, the potential causal factors, the clinical impact and the effects of correction of CMA in kidney transplant recipients. In this review, we briefly look at the more relevant, though scanty, studies which have, over time, addressed the above-mentioned points, with the hope that in the future the interest of transplant nephrologists and surgeons will grow towards this unreasonably neglected issue.

Background. High pulse pressure (PP) values have recently been implicated in the development and progression of large vessel atherosclerosis, small vessel disease, and in the occurrence of cardiovascular events. The aim of the present study is to investigate the relationship between PP and subclinical cardiovascular damage in a cohort of unselected middle-aged patients (204 male, 129 female) with untreated primary hypertension. Methods. PP was calculated as the difference between systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Left ventricular mass index (LVMI) was assessed by M-B mode echocardiography (LVH =LVMI> 51 g/m 2.7 ), and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) by high-resolution US scan. Albuminuria was measured as the albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR) in three non-consecutive first morning urine samples. Results. PP was positively correlated to gender (P

BACKGROUND Ultrasound (US) examination of heart and carotid arteries provides an accurate assessment of target organ damage (TOD) and may influence the stratification of the absolute cardiovascular risk profile. Microalbuminuria has recently proved to be a useful cost-effective marker of increased cardiovascular risk but is still too often neglected in clinical practice. OBJECTIVE To evaluate how well artificial neural networks (ANNs) predict cardiovascular risk stratification by means of routine data and urinary albumin excretion, as compared to prediction by the clinical work-up suggested by the International Society of Hypertension (ISH), with and without ultrasound-determined TOD. METHODS A group of 346 never previously treated essential hypertensives (212 men, 134 women, mean age 47 +/- 9 years) was studied. Risk was stratified according to the criteria suggested by the 1999 WHO/ISH guidelines; first, by routine procedures alone, and subsequently by reassessment, using data on cardiac and vascular structures obtained by US evaluation. The ANN was trained and tested to predict the overall cardiovascular risk on the basis of routine clinical data and urinary albumin excretion (UAE). The impact of these three approaches on the determination of cardiovascular risk profile was evaluated. RESULTS According to the first classification, 5.5% (n = 19) of patients were considered at low risk, 47.3% (n = 164) at medium, 26.7% (n = 92) at high and 20.6% (n = 71) at very high risk. A marked change in risk stratification, namely an increase in the prevalence of high- and very-high-risk patients (2.3% low, 29.8% medium, 42.8% high and 25.2% very high risk; chi(2) 15.201, P < 0.0001), was obtained when US examination of TOD was taken into consideration. On the basis of routine clinical data and UAE, the artificial neural network successfully predicted overall cardiovascular risk and allocated patients in different classes as accurately as the US-based evaluation. CONCLUSIONS The use of US techniques allows a more precise stratification of absolute cardiovascular risk in hypertensive patients as compared to routine clinical data. An ANN can accurately identify the patients' risk status by using low-cost routine data and UAE. These results further emphasize the value of UAE in the stratification of cardiovascular risk.