BMPER Improves Vascular Remodeling and the Contractile Vascular SMC Phenotype.

Dedifferentiated vascular smooth muscle cells (vSMCs) play an essential role in neointima formation, and we now aim to investigate the role of the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) modulator BMPER (BMP endothelial cell precursor-derived regulator) in neointima formation. To assess BMPER expression in arterial restenosis, we used a mouse carotid ligation model with perivascular cuff placement. Overall BMPER expression after vessel injury was increased; however, expression in the tunica media was decreased compared to untreated control.

[Should we prescribe low-protein diet for geriatric patient with chronic kidney disease?].

There are no clear dietary recommendations for patients over 70 years of age, while stages 3-5 of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and protein-energy wasting (PEW) is common among this category of patients. Nutritional status is known to be one of the significant factors influencing the prognosis of patients receiving renal replacement therapy. of the research was the analysis of the mechanisms of PEW, methods for assessing the nutritional status and effectiveness of diets with different protein content in patients with CKD based on literature data.

Urinary Clusterin Is Upregulated in Nephropathia Epidemica.

Kidney insufficiency is a hallmark of nephropathia epidemica (NE). Little is known about the mechanisms of the NE kidney pathology, with current knowledge mainly based on findings in postmortem tissue. We have analyzed kidney damage biomarkers in urine collected from early- and late-phase NE using Bio-Plex kidney toxicity panels 1 and 2.

Impaired contraction of blood clots as a novel prothrombotic mechanism in systemic lupus erythematosus.

The aim of this work was to examine a possible role of clot contraction/retraction in thrombotic complications of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Using a novel automated method, we investigated kinetics of clot contraction in the blood of 51 SLE patients and 60 healthy donors. The functionality of platelets in the SLE patients was assessed using flow cytometry by expression of P-selectin and fibrinogen-binding capacity.

Differential immuno-reactivity to genomic DNA, RNA and mitochondrial DNA is associated with auto-immunity.

Background: Circulating auto-reactive antibodies are hallmark features of auto-immune diseases, however little is known with respect to the specificity of such bio-markers. In the present study, we investigated the specificity of anti-nucleic acid antibodies in the blood of subjects with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and healthy controls.

Methods: Sera from 12 SLE cases and 8 controls were evaluated for immuno-reactivity to purified RNA, DNA and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) by enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA).