Measurement of urinary TGF-β1 in patients with diabetes mellitus and normal controls.

Objective: Increasing evidence links TGF-β1 to progression of renal fibrosis including its association with diabetic nephropathy (DN). Current ELISA assays are not sensitive enough to measure TGF-β1 in the urine of many clinically healthy individuals, even those with established renal disease. The objective of this study was to validate a sensitive urinary assay for TGF-β1 and compare levels between healthy controls and patients with established DN.

Clinical outcomes in patients with renal artery stenosis treated with stent placement with embolic protection compared with those treated with stent alone.

Purpose: To compare the clinical outcomes in patients with chronic renal insufficiency (CRI) and renal artery stenosis (RAS) following renal artery (RA) stent placement with and without embolic protection device (EPD) usage.

Materials And Methods: Eighteen patients who had RA stent placement with EPD were matched to control patients (RA stent only). Blood pressure, number of hypertensive medications, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at 3 months before the procedure and after 12 months were determined.

Pirfenidone for diabetic nephropathy.

Pirfenidone is an oral antifibrotic agent that benefits diabetic nephropathy in animal models, but whether it is effective for human diabetic nephropathy is unknown. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in 77 subjects with diabetic nephropathy who had elevated albuminuria and reduced estimated GFR (eGFR) (20 to 75 ml/min per 1.73 m²).

Contrast-induced acute kidney injury and diabetic nephropathy.

Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CIAKI) is a leading cause of iatrogenic renal failure. Multiple studies have shown that patients with diabetic nephropathy are at high risk of CIAKI. This Review presents an overview of the pathogenesis of CIAKI in patients with diabetic nephropathy and discusses the currently available and potential future strategies for CIAKI prevention.

Role of oxidative stress in diabetic kidney disease.

Unlabelled: Diabetes mellitus has become a worldwide epidemic affecting nearly all areas of developing and developed countries. Nearly half of all patients with diabetes, type 1 and 2, will develop diabetic kidney disease (DKD) if they do not die prematurely from cardiovascular disease. Diabetic kidney disease is associated with a high cardiovascular mortality even in its early stages and about a third of patients with DKD will progress to end stage renal disease (ESRD).

Role of oxidative stress in contrast-induced acute kidney injury in diabetes mellitus.

Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CIAKI) is the most-common form of in-hospital drug-induced acute kidney injury and occurs in 1 to over 50% of patients undergoing intravascular contrast media (CM) administration. Numerous risk factors for CIAKI have been described, the most prominent among them is pre-existing kidney disease such as diabetic nephropathy. The pathogenesis of CIAKI appears to be caused, at least in part, by renal vasoconstriction and renal ischemia leading to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS).

Acute kidney injury following cardiac surgery: impact of early versus late haemofiltration on morbidity and mortality.

Various forms of renal replacement therapies (RRT) are available to treat acute kidney injury (AKI) after cardiac surgery. The objective of this review is to assess the incidence of postoperative AKI that necessitates the application of haemofiltration in adult patients undergoing cardiac operations with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), to determine the factors that influence the outcome in these patients. In addition, the review aims to assess the outcomes of postoperative early haemofiltration as compared to late intensive haemofiltration.

Preliminary study of the use of drug-eluting stents in atherosclerotic renal artery stenoses 4 mm in diameter or smaller.

Purpose: To describe restenosis and clinical outcomes with drug-eluting stents (DESs) and compare them to those of bare metal stents (BMSs) in the treatment of symptomatic atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (RAS) in the same patients.

Methods And Materials: A retrospective study was performed of all patients with RAS treated with a DES (Taxus Express 2 or Cypher). DESs were used for RASs with luminal vessel diameters of 4 mm or smaller and BMSs were used for those larger than 4 mm.

Sodium bicarbonate is associated with an increased incidence of contrast nephropathy: a retrospective cohort study of 7977 patients at mayo clinic.

Background And Objectives: The role of sodium bicarbonate in preventing contrast nephropathy needs to be evaluated in clinical settings.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: We performed a retrospective cohort study at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, to assess the risk of contrast nephropathy associated with the use of sodium bicarbonate, N-acetylcysteine, and the combination of sodium bicarbonate with N-acetylcysteine from April 2004 to May 2005. Contrast nephropathy was defined as postexposure creatinine elevation of > or =25% or >0.

The hyperbilirubinemic Gunn rat is resistant to the pressor effects of angiotensin II.

ANG II induces vasoconstriction, at least in part, by stimulating NADPH oxidase and generating reactive oxygen species. ANG II also induces heme oxygenase activity, and bilirubin, a product of such activity, possesses antioxidant properties. We hypothesized that bilirubin, because of its antioxidant properties, may reduce the pressor and prooxidant effects of ANG II.