Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) have created a synthetic form of low-molecular-weight heparin that can be reversed in cases of overdose and would be safer for patients with poor kidney function.
• In a study of 267 patients with chronic kidney disease, 69% of participants experienced at least one hazardous event related to their outpatient care. • Hypoglycemia (in patients with diabetes) and falling or severe dizziness (in patients without diabetes) were most frequently paired with other complications of medical care.
• Biopsy-detected injury in donated kidneys was modestly associated with a delay in organ function in the first week after transplantation, but only for donor kidneys already known to be at high risk. Donor kidney biopsies frequently underreported kidney injury with substantial variability. • There was a large degree of overlap between the results of biopsies from kidneys that were deemed unsuitable for transplantation and kidneys that were approved for transplantation. The quality of biopsies used in acceptance decisions was low.
• For pregnant women with kidney failure who underwent dialysis for more than 36 hours per week, the live birth rate was 85%, while it was only 48% in women dialyzed for 20 hours or less per week. • Infants were a healthier weight at birth when women were dialyzed for more than 20 hours per week than when women were dialyzed for 20 hours or less per week. • Pregnancy complications were few and manageable in patients receiving intensive dialysis.
The risk of a kidney donor developing kidney failure in the remaining organ is much lower than in the population at large, even when compared with people who have two kidneys, according to results of new Johns Hopkins research.
• Hospitalized patients who recovered from acute kidney injury had a 67% increased risk of experiencing coronary events or dying during a recent study. • Acute kidney injury’s harmful effects on heart health were comparable to those attributed to diabetes.
• Domoic acid accumulates in seafood and is toxic to the brain • The toxin damages kidneys at concentrations that are 100 times lower than what causes neurological effects.
Drug could help patients forgo toxic standard treatments that are often ineffective
• African-American dialysis patients with sickle cell trait received about 13% more of the medications used to treat anemia than other African-American patients to reach the same level of hemoglobin. • Sickle cell trait was slightly more common in African-American patients on dialysis (10%) than in the general African-American population (6.5% to 8.7%).
A new study by Joslin Diabetes Center researchers that compares the metabolic fingerprints of patients who develop ESRD versus those who don’t has furnished new clues to the disease.
Patients with chronic kidney disease who received robot-assisted partial nephrectomy to treat kidney cancer have minimal loss of kidney function -- a smaller amount even than patients with normal kidney function, according to researchers at Henry Ford Hospital’s Vattikuti Urology Institute.
• A single low dose of lithium given to mice following acute kidney injury promotes kidney repair and accelerates the recovery of kidney function.
• Putative kidney progenitor cells contribute to kidney function decline by causing kidney scarring. Targeting these cells may therefore help prevent or treat kidney failure. • Researchers have identified an additional but limited reserve of kidney filtering cells that are present at birth and become mature and functional filter cells by adulthood.
• Among women on chronic dialysis, sexual inactivity is common, with the most frequently described reasons being lack of interest in sex and lack of a partner. Rarely is sexual difficulty reported as a reason for lack of interest • Most women on chronic dialysis—including those lacking interest in sex—are satisfied with their sex lives.
• Even small amounts of physical activity can lead to up to a 31% decreased risk of developing kidney stones. • Eating more than 2200 calories per day may increase one’s risk of developing kidney stones by up to 42%.
• In individuals with moderate-to-severe kidney disease, those performing more than 150 minutes of physical activity per week had the lowest rate of kidney function decline. • Each 60-minute increment in weekly physical activity was linked with a 0.5% slower decline per year in kidney function.
Changes to a key protein amplified its natural ability to counter kidney disease, according to a study published today by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the journal Nature Medicine.
A large study co-authored by Dominic Raj, M.D., director of the division of nephrology and professor of medicine at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences., identifies factors that mediate differences in the progression of chronic kidney disease in order to reduce the excess burden of end-stage renal disease and its complications in black patients.
Researchers found, in a genome-wide survey, significant differences in the pattern of chemical modifications on DNA that affect gene expression in kidney cells from patients with chronic kidney disease versus healthy controls. This is the first study to show that changes in these modifications – the cornerstone of the field of epigenetics – might explain chronic kidney disease.
• Most older adults initiate chronic dialysis in the hospital. • Those who have a prolonged hospital stay and receive other forms of life support around the time of dialysis initiation have limited survival and eventually need to undergo more intensive procedures.
An investigational, man-made blood vessel used in vascular grafts for kidney dialysis patients may potentially show encouraging early results among study patients in Poland, according to preliminary data reported Wednesday by a researcher at Duke Medicine.
Diseases affecting the kidneys represent a major and unsolved health issue worldwide. The kidneys rarely recover function once they are damaged by disease, highlighting the urgent need for better knowledge of kidney development and physiology.
• Compared with women with advanced kidney disease who conceived after starting dialysis, women who conceived and then started dialysis during the pregnancy had a much better live birth rate (91% vs 63%), but their infants were of similar birth weight and gestational age. • In both groups of women with kidney disease, babies were likely to be premature and of low birth-weight, which reflects the high-risk nature of these pregnancies.
The HOPE Act could allow individuals with HIV to receive organ transplants from donors with HIV, and may help reduce the country’s current organ shortage. The American Society of Nephrology worked hard to ensure passage of this no-cost legislation that may help reduce kidney transplant waiting times.
• Preeclampsia was associated with an increased likelihood of developing kidney failure; however, after adjusting for diabetes and hypertension, the association was attenuated and no longer significant. • Additional studies are needed to confirm the association of preeclampsia and kidney failure.
• In patients with hypertensive nephropathy, kidney health was preserved in those consuming extra fruits and vegetables, which are highly alkaline. • In patients with chronic kidney disease, those with high dietary acid levels experienced accelerated kidney function decline. • In chronic kidney disease patients with low socioeconomic status, the detrimental effect of high dietary acid levels on progression to kidney failure was greater for blacks than for whites
Highlights • Consuming at least two soft drinks per day is linked with increased excretion of protein in the urine. • Moderate fructose intake increases salt reabsorption by the kidneys.
Highlight • Among first responders at Ground Zero following the 9/11 tragedy, those exposed to high levels of particulate matter experienced significant kidney damage.
For the first time, researchers have linked high levels of inhaled particulate matter by first responders at Ground Zero to kidney damage.
• An investigational drug called ZS-9 demonstrated promising phase 2 clinical trial results for treating abnormally high potassium levels in patients with chronic kidney disease. • The immune drug abatacept did not provide benefits above standard treatment for patients with kidney inflammation caused by lupus.
New research provides direct evidence that genetic variations in some African Americans with chronic kidney disease contribute to a more rapid decline in kidney function compared with white Americans.
Genetic factors in African Americans with chronic kidney disease (CKD) put them at a greater risk for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) compared to white Americans, according to a new study released today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland contributed data from two separate studies: the African American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension (AASK) and the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort Study (CRIC).
New research from Mayo Clinic finds that half of elderly patients who start dialysis after age 75 will die within one year. The findings are being presented this week at the American Society of Nephrology’s Kidney Week 2013 in Atlanta.
Highlights • Vitamin D levels had an almost linear relationship with annual kidney function decline among kidney transplant recipients • Vitamin D inadequacy and deficiency showed significant dose-dependent associations with higher risks of organ rejection and death.
• In patients with chronic kidney disease who lowered their salt intake for two weeks, excess extracellular fluid volume, blood pressure, and protein excretion in the urine all dropped considerably. • If maintained long-term, the effects could reduce a patient’s risk of progressing to kidney failure by 30%.
• In 74 obese kidney disease patients undergoing weight loss surgery, there were 16 adverse events, including two deaths related to surgical complications.
• Worldwide, there has been a 165% increase in dialysis treatments for ESRD over the past two decades.
• Acute kidney injury is the most common in-hospital diagnosis seen by US nephrologists. • Patients with AKI are often critically ill, but survivors of in-hospital AKI are often not seen by kidney specialists after being discharged.
• A simple saliva test may be used to diagnose kidney injury. • A Mediterranean-style diet is associated with a reduced risk of kidney disease and slows the rate of kidney function decline. • Mindfulness meditation has beneficial effects on blood pressure and adrenaline levels in patients with kidney disease. • Initiation of dialysis can cause considerable burdens and loss of independence for elderly patients.
• Viability, necrosis, and death of immune cells are influenced by BPA concentrations in components of dialysis machines. • Alternative polymers for dialysis machine components may reduce cells’ exposure to BPA during dialysis
• For each 10 gram increase in vegetable protein intake, participants in a study had a 14% lower risk of dying during follow-up.
New research finds that the combination of acetaminophen paired with alcohol — even if consumed moderately or lightly — can increase the risk of kidney dysfunction.
• Kidney disease is a growing public health threat affecting more than 20 million Americans. • Since 1996, the American Society of Nephrology and its foundation have awarded more than $25 million in grants and travel support.
ClinMet today announced that researchers from The University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and colleagues have published new findings that could fundamentally change understanding of how diabetes-related diseases develop and how they might be better treated. A prevailing theory suggests that mitochondrial function is overactive in diabetes and leads to complications such as kidney, eye, nerve and possibly cardiovascular disease. However, these new studies suggest that real-time production of superoxide - a marker of mitochondrial activity - is actually reduced, rather than elevated, in diabetic kidney disease and potentially other organs as well. Furthermore, stimulating mitochondrial production, function and superoxide levels led to improvement in diabetic kidney disease.
A new testing method can better detect potentially fatal hormone imbalances in patients with end-stage kidney disease, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).
Urate-lowering therapy alone may not directly reduce the risk of kidney disease in those with hyperuricemia. However, according to a study presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting in San Diego, working to lower serum uric acid based on the 2012 American College of Rheumatology Guidelines for Management of Gout has a positive effect.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say that, while a prevailing theory suggests elevated cellular levels of glucose ultimately result in diabetic kidney disease, the truth may, in fact, be quite the opposite. The findings could fundamentally change understanding of how diabetes-related diseases develop – and how they might be better treated.
Highlights • After a median of 2.4 years of follow up, 86.5% of transplants of donor kidneys considered “high-risk” for infection and disease were functioning with no evidence of infections. • Such “high-risk” organs are relatively safe when screened with current methods.
• Paying living donors $10,000 could be cost-saving even if it only resulted in a 5% increase in the number of donors.
The American Society of Nephrology strongly recommends that all adults undergo routine screening for chronic kidney disease (CKD), the 8th leading cause of death in the U.S. This contradicts screening guidelines recently released by the American College of Physicians (ACP).
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