Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibition in primary and secondary glomerulonephritis.

Background: The role of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) in the management glomerular/systemic autoimmune diseases with proteinuria in real-world clinical settings is unclear.

Methods: This is a retrospective, observational, international cohort study. Adult patients with biopsy-proven glomerular diseases were included.

Clinical Profiles and Patterns of Kidney Disease Progression in C3 Glomerulopathy.

Key Points: Kidney survival in C3 glomerulopathy is significantly higher in patients with a disease chronicity score <4 and proteinuria <3.5 g/d, regardless of baseline eGFR. A faster eGFR decline in C3 glomerulopathy is associated with higher probability of kidney failure.

COVID-19 incidence and outcomes in a home dialysis unit in Madrid (Spain) at the height of the pandemic.

Introduction: The 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) is a viral infection caused by a new coronavirus that is affecting the entire world. There have been studies of patients on in-center hemodialysis (HD), but home dialysis population data are scarce. Our objective is to study the incidence and course of COVID-19 in a home dialysis unit (HDU) at the height of the pandemic.

COVID-19 incidence and outcomes in a home dialysis unit in Madrid (Spain) at the height of the pandemic.

Introduction: The 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) is a viral infection caused by a new coronavirus that is affecting the entire world. There have been studies of patients on in-center hemodialysis, but home dialysis population data are scarce. Our objective is to study the incidence and course of COVID-19 in a home dialysis unit (HDU) at the height of the pandemic.

The STARMEN trial indicates that alternating treatment with corticosteroids and cyclophosphamide is superior to sequential treatment with tacrolimus and rituximab in primary membranous nephropathy.

A cyclical corticosteroid-cyclophosphamide regimen is recommended for patients with primary membranous nephropathy at high risk of progression. We hypothesized that sequential therapy with tacrolimus and rituximab is superior to cyclical alternating treatment with corticosteroids and cyclophosphamide in inducing persistent remission in these patients. This was tested in a randomized, open-label controlled trial of 86 patients with primary membranous nephropathy and persistent nephrotic syndrome after six-months observation and assigned 43 each to receive six-month cyclical treatment with corticosteroid and cyclophosphamide or sequential treatment with tacrolimus (full-dose for six months and tapering for another three months) and rituximab (one gram at month six).

The Natural History of Kidney Graft Cortical Microcirculation Determined by Real-Time Contrast-Enhanced Sonography (RT-CES).

Background: Kidney transplantation is the therapy of choice for end-stage kidney disease. Graft's life span is shorter than expected due in part to the delayed diagnosis of various complications, specifically those related to silent progression. It is recognized that serum creatinine levels and proteinuria are poor markers of mild kidney lesions, which results in delayed clinical information.

Effectiveness of mycophenolate mofetil in C3 glomerulonephritis.

C3 glomerulonephritis is a clinicopathologic entity defined by the presence of isolated or dominant deposits of C3 on immunofluorescence. To explore the effect of immunosuppression on C3 glomerulonephritis, we studied a series of 60 patients in whom a complete registry of treatments was available over a median follow-up of 47 months. Twenty patients had not received immunosuppressive treatments.

Use of multiplex PCR in diagnosis of bloodstream infections in kidney patients.

The LightCycler® SeptiFast Test (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim, Germany) was prospectively compared with the standard blood culture technique in a series of 86 kidney patients. The sensitivity of the PCR compared with the culture was 71%, and the specificity was 88%. All the species identified by culture in these patients were in the SeptiFast panel.

[Complications associated with renal graft biopsy in transplant patients].

Background: Percutaneous biopsy of renal grafts is a diagnostic method for the assessment, management and clinical monitoring of renal transplant, so it is necessary to know its complications. There are few data in the literature regarding complications from biopsies in renal grafts.

Objective: To evaluate the rate of complications in renal graft biopsies performed at our centre.

Pretransplant CD8 T-cell response to IE-1 discriminates seropositive kidney recipients at risk of developing CMV infection posttransplant.

Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is an ongoing clinical problem in solid-organ transplantation (SOT). Pretransplant CMV serology is currently the only tool for assessing the risk of CMV infection, although cellular immune responses driven by CMV-specific CD4 and CD8 T lymphocytes are important for controlling viral replication. Therefore, the analysis of CMV-specific T cells may be useful for estimating the risk of infection.

Pretransplant peritoneal dialysis relative to hemodialysis improves long-term survival of kidney transplant patients: a single-center observational study.

Background: Kidney transplantation is the best option for the treatment of end-stage renal disease in terms of survival and quality of life. These results can be influenced by the pretransplant dialysis modality. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the pretransplantation dialysis modality influences patient and allograft survival beyond 10 years and examine the potential risk factors associated with the outcomes.