Management of kidney disease in patients with diabetes in the primary care setting.

Aims: To evaluate the performance of general practitioners (GPs) in the care of diabetic patients in areas represented or unrepresented by quality indicators.

Methods: An observational study in primary care practices. The study population was comprised of GPs who cared for 1799 patients with diabetes mellitus co-existing with stage 3 chronic kidney disease, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.

Iron deficiency is a common cause of anemia in chronic kidney disease and can often be corrected with intravenous iron.

Background: There is some epidemiological and clinical evidence that the anemia seen in chronic kidney disease (CKD) in patients not on dialysis could be due to a significant extent to iron deficiency, and that adequate iron replacement could cause a marked improvement in the anemia even without the use of erythropoietin (EPO). The purpose of this work was to study the effects of intravenous (i.v.

Repopulation of the mesothelial monolayer during long-term experimental peritoneal dialysis.

Background: Repopulation of the mesothelial monolayer after focal exfoliation, having the monolayer in vivo and in situ exposed to dialysis solutions, has not been thoroughly investigated. This study describes repopulation of a 'doughnut' like mesothelial ring exfoliated from the anterior liver surface of rats.

Methods: Animals were divided into 5 groups of 20 rats each.

Osmotic agents hamper mesothelial repopulation as seen in the doughnut in vivo model.

Background: The problem of mesothelial cell injury derived from the use of peritoneal dialysis solutions has been explored deeply. Conversely, the eventual detrimental effects upon mesothelial cell regeneration have awaked less investigative efforts than those focused on injury.

Objective: To evaluate in the in vivo and in situ rat "doughnut" model of mesothelial repopulation, the eventual effect of peritoneal lavage with Hank's Balanced Salt Solution (HBSS) as well as that of 4.

Acute oxidative stress induces peritoneal hyperpermeability, mesothelial loss, and fibrosis.

We explored the acute and long-term effects of short-lived, intense oxidative stress on peritoneal permeability and structure, induced with intraperitoneal injection of the oxidant agent deoxycholate, in rats. Ten minutes after the experimental intervention, peritoneal dialysis, performed over an exposure time of 60 minutes, revealed an increased urea dialysate/plasma ratio, greater glucose absorption, increased albumin losses in the effluent dialysate, and a reduced ultrafiltration rate. Mesothelial-cell imprints taken from the anterior liver surface indicated a substantially decreased density in the cell population.

Icodextrin-induced lipid peroxidation disrupts the mesothelial cell cycle engine.

Fluids commonly used for peritoneal dialysis hold poor biocompatibility vis a vis the peritoneal membrane, basically due to the presence of osmotic agents. When rat mesothelium was exposed to glucose-enriched dialysis solutions for 2 h in vivo, an early and short-lived acceleration of cell life cycle was observed, which, after 30 d of exposure, resulted in a depopulated monolayer of senescent cells. These changes appear to result from persistent oxidative stress due to continuous exposure to high concentration of glucose and to substances generated by the Maillard reaction.

Peritoneal transport after long-term exposure to Icodextrin in rats.

Background: Icodextrin, an effective osmotic substance that has been proposed as an alternative agent for peritoneal dialysis induces ultrafiltration over long dwells. This study examines the peritoneal transport after exposure to Icodextrin in rats.

Methods: Animals were divided in 4 groups and injected daily for 30 days with Icodextrin 7.

Mesothelial dysplastic changes and lipid peroxidation induced by 7.5% icodextrin.

Background: The issue of icodextrin biocompatibility is somehow ambiguous. Whereas some experimental data point at better bicompatibility of icodextrin compared with high glucose concentration fluid, other reports showed substantial cytotoxic effects upon monocytes and cultured mesothelial cells. The present investigation exposes the first attempt to investigate the biocompatibility issue in an in vivo and in situ setup.