Markers of inflammation predict the long-term risk of developing chronic kidney disease: a population-based cohort study.

In animal models, inflammatory processes have been shown to have an important role in the development of kidney disease. In humans, however, the independent relation between markers of inflammation and the risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is not known. To clarify this, we examined the relationship of several inflammatory biomarker levels (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-α receptor 2, white blood cell count, and interleukin-6) with the risk of developing CKD in a population-based cohort of up to 4926 patients with 15 years of follow-up.

Bidirectional association of retinal vessel diameters and estimated GFR decline: the Beaver Dam CKD Study.

Background: Recent cross-sectional studies have reported an association between retinal vessel caliber and chronic kidney disease (CKD), but the direction of the association between these 2 processes is not clear. In a prospective study with multiple measurements of retinal vessel diameters and serum creatinine, we examined whether baseline retinal vessel diameter is associated with future risk of decreased kidney function, or vice versa.

Study Design: Population-based cohort study.

Estimating glomerular filtration rate in a population-based study.

Background: Glomerular filtration rate (GFR)-estimating equations are used to determine the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in population-based studies. However, it has been suggested that since the commonly used GFR equations were originally developed from samples of patients with CKD, they underestimate GFR in healthy populations. Few studies have made side-by-side comparisons of the effect of various estimating equations on the prevalence estimates of CKD in a general population sample.

Cystatin C, other markers of kidney disease, and incidence of age-related cataract.

Objective: To investigate the 15-year incidence of 3 specific types of age-related cataract as related to cystatin C and other measures of kidney function.

Methods: Examinations of a population-based cohort (n = 4926) occurred at 5-year intervals for 15 years. Assessment of medical history, examination, and photographs of the lens after pupil dilation were performed at each examination.

More eyes on the prize: variability in White Americans' perceptions of progress toward racial equality.

Much recent research suggests that Whites and non-Whites think differently about issues of race in contemporary America. For example, Eibach and Ehrlinger (2006) recently demonstrated that Whites perceive that more progress toward racial equality has been made as compared to non-Whites. The authors of this article sought to extend Eibach and Ehrlinger's analysis.

Why some groups just feel better: the regulatory fit of group power.

The current research applied the regulatory fit hypothesis (E. T. Higgins, 2000) to the evaluation of groups, suggesting that individuals' group appraisal depends on how well the groups fit their regulatory needs.

Strength and safety in numbers: considering the social implications of regulatory focus.

The present article examines how individual and situational differences in individuals' regulatory focus on nurturance and gain (promotion) and on security and safety (prevention) may have significant, and distinct, social and interpersonal implications. We first review recent research examining how significant others affect goal pursuit and how individual differences in regulatory focus may moderate the various behavioral, evaluative, and experiential manifestations of social identification. We then consider how regulatory focus moderates the way in which people "size up" their social world in terms of the efficiency in which they identify and appraise motivationally relevant aspects of their social environment.

Explicit and implicit cognition: a preliminary test of a dual-process theory of cognitive vulnerability to depression.

Two studies were conducted to test a dual-process theory of cognitive vulnerability to depression. According to this theory, implicit and explicit cognitive processes have differential effects on depressive reactions to stressful life events. Implicit processes are hypothesized to be critical in determining an individual's immediate affective reaction to stress whereas explicit cognitions are thought to be more involved in long-term depressive reactions.

Blood pressure control in kidney transplantation: therapeutic implications.

Post-transplant hypertension remains a significant risk factor for graft loss, but whether or not specific blood pressure (BP) medications affect graft outcome is still unknown. We assessed the interaction between BP control and antihypertensive drugs on graft outcome. We retrospectively examined clinic BP data for 1662 renal transplant (RTx) patients, transplanted between 1994 and 2000 at our centre.

Promoting us or preventing them: regulatory focus and manifestations of intergroup bias.

Four studies examined whether situational and individual differences in individuals' regulatory focus influence how intergroup bias is expressed emotionally and behaviorally. Consistent with past findings on promotion focus, these studies found evidence that participants' promotion focus, whether measured or manipulated, was related to how extensively they demonstrated bias toward their ingroup in terms of cheerfulness- and dejection-related emotions and approach-related behaviors. Consistent with past findings on prevention focus, these studies also revealed that participants' prevention focus was related to how extensively they showed bias against an outgroup in terms of quiescence- and agitation-related emotions and avoidance-related behaviors.

Disease progression and outcomes in chronic kidney disease and renal transplantation.

Background: It is unknown whether renal transplant recipients (RTR) have better outcomes and disease progression rates compared to patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) when matched for the level of kidney function.

Methods: We analyzed data on 1762 patients with CKD (N = 872) and RTR (N = 890) over 16 years, applying the new Kidney/Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (K/DOQI) staging system for CKD in a single center retrospective study. Patients were further divided based their native kidney disease.

Type 2 angiotensin II receptor expression in human renal allografts: an association with chronic allograft nephropathy.

Aims: The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) has been implicated in renal fibrosis through activation of the type I angiotensin II (Ang II) receptor (AT1R). Whether the other predominant Ang II receptor, the type 2 Ang II receptor (AT2R), has a fibrotic or sparing role in adult human renal tissue is unknown.

Materials And Methods: We used the reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to assess intragraft AT2R mRNA expression in biopsy samples from 23 renal transplant recipients.

Increasing incidence of end-stage renal disease in Wisconsin: an unintended consequence of increased survival?

End stage renal disease (ESRD) is an important and costly complication of diabetes, hypertension, and primary kidney disorders. We examined ESRD incidence trends in Wisconsin from 1982 to 1997 and assessed the progress in reaching the ESRD 2000 goal as stated by Healthier People in Wisconsin: A Public Health Agenda for the Year 2000. Since 1982, there has been nearly a three-fold increase in the incidence of ESRD in Wisconsin.

Renin-angiotensin system gene expression in post-transplant hypertension predicts allograft function.

Background: Registry analyses and single-center studies have demonstrated that hypertension significantly increases the risk for chronic graft loss. The graft itself may contribute to posttransplant hypertension, and intragraft vasoactive hormones therefore, may be dysregulated in posttransplant hypertension.

Methods: We used the reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction to assess the intragraft regulation of renin-angiotensin system transcripts in biopsy samples from 42 stable renal transplant patients with posttransplant hypertension.

Simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation reduces excess mortality in type 1 diabetic patients with end-stage renal disease.

Background: Diabetic renal disease continues to be the most significant cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the United States. Renal transplantation improves diabetic ESRD patient survival; however, the diabetic state remains associated with poor patient survival. Simultaneous pancreas-kidney (SPK) transplantation can restore normoglycemia and thus may improve outcomes.

Using renal transplantation to evaluate a simple approach for predicting the impact of end-stage renal disease therapies on patient survival: observed/expected life span.

The effectiveness of therapy for a chronic disease can be assessed by evaluating the length of time that a patient survives after receiving treatment. We used a novel means for measuring the effectiveness of renal replacement therapy for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD): the ratio of observed life span divided by expected life span. This ratio incorporated observed life span for patients from the time of ESRD and expected life span based on state-specific life-table analyses.

The 10-year incidence of renal insufficiency in people with type 1 diabetes.

Objective: To describe the 10-year decrease in estimated creatinine clearance and the incidence of renal insufficiency and end-stage renal disease in a cohort of people with type 1 diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: A population-based cohort of individuals with younger-onset diabetes (diagnosed at < 30 years old and taking insulin) participated in an examination during 1984-1986 (n = 891), a 6-year follow-up examination during 1990-1992 (n = 765), and a 10-year follow-up examination during 1995-1996 (n = 634). Serum creatinine and risk factors were measured during standardized protocols at each examination.

Rapid in vivo measurement of single-kidney extraction fraction and glomerular filtration rate with MR imaging.

Purpose: To compare the accuracy of a noninvasive magnetic resonance (MR) imaging method to rapidly determine single-kidney glomerular filtration rate (GFR) relative to findings with an accepted standard of reference.

Materials And Methods: Simultaneous inulin and MR imaging measurements of renal excretory function were performed in six small swine. Renal extraction fraction of gadopentetate dimeglumine was determined with T1 measurements of flowing blood in the renal vein and in a systemic vessel 10-300 minutes after administration.

Rapid measurement of Gd-DTPA extraction fraction in a dialysis system using echo-planar imaging.

Gd-DTPA (Magnevist, Berlex, Wayne, NJ) extraction fractions (EF) have been measured for three dialysis filter types using an echo-planar imaging (EPI) Look-Locker T1 measurement technique under conditions of fast and slow flow. The mean EF measured in Fresenius (Bad Homburg, Germany) F3, F6, and F8 dialysis filters were 0.015 +/- 0.

Interactions between D-glucose and phosphate in renal proximal tubule cells.

The addition of D-glucose to renal proximal tubule cells reduces phosphate transport and in conditions of limited phosphate availability reduces mitochondrial respiration, oxidative phosphorylation and ATP content, a phenomenon called the Crabtree effect. The present study examined the effects of D-glucose on cellular content of inorganic phosphate, phosphomonoesters, and ATP. These studies were performed in suspensions of canine proximal tubules using 31P NMR spectroscopy.

Measurement of Gd-DTPA dialysis clearance rates by using a look-locker imaging technique.

The exponential clearance rate constant, (kappa), and filtration fraction (FF) have been measured for dialysis of Gadolinium-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA) (Magnevist, Berlex, Wayne, NJ) solutions by using a Look-Locker imaging technique under conditions of flow. The measured values of kappa for the Baxter CA-50, CA-110, and CA-210 filters were 0.0037 +/- 0.

Magnetic resonance angiography in progressive renal failure: a technology assessment.

The objective of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) imaging for renal artery stenosis (RAS) in people with progressive renal failure (PRF). We created a simulation model to determine the incremental cost-effectiveness of MRA screening in PRF compared with the fallback strategy of not screening. Costs, probabilities, and utilities were estimated from the literature and from institutional data.

An NMR study of cellular phosphates and membrane transport in renal proximal tubules.

Technical limitations in the measurement of cellular phosphates have hindered studies of interrelationships between cellular Pi, its transport, and its metabolism in renal proximal tubule (PT) cells. We have developed a noninvasive 31P-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) probe-perifusion system to measure cellular Pi and have utilized this system to investigate relationships in canine PT cells between the membrane transport and the cellular content of Pi. With 1.