Delivery of sorafenib by myofibroblast-targeted nanoparticles for the treatment of renal fibrosis.

Fibrosis is an excessive accumulation of the extracellular matrix within solid organs in response to injury and a common pathway that leads functional failure. No clinically approved agent is available to reverse or even prevent this process. Herein, we report a nanotechnology-based approach that utilizes a drug carrier to deliver a therapeutic cargo specifically to fibrotic kidneys, thereby improving the antifibrotic effect of the drug and reducing systemic toxicity.

Relationships of social support and attitudes towards death: A mediator role of depression in older patients on haemodialysis.

Aim: To explore the mediating role of depression in older people receiving haemodialysis on social support and the attitude of participants towards death.

Design: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey.

Methods: Data were collected from older people undergoing dialysis (N = 209) at two regional hospitals in the north of Taiwan.

Correlation between breath ammonia and blood urea nitrogen levels in chronic kidney disease and dialysis patients.

Previous studies have shown that breath ammonia (breath-NH) concentration is associated with blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels. However, interindividual variations in breath-NH concentrations were observed. Thus, the present study aimed to assess the effect of oral cavity conditions on breath-NH concentration and to validate whether the measurement of breath-NH concentration is feasible in clinical settings.

Cadmium Activates Multiple Signaling Pathways That Coordinately Stimulate Akt Activity to Enhance c-Myc mRNA Stability.

Cadmium is a known environmental carcinogen. Exposure of Cd leads to the activation of several proto-oncogenes in cells. We investigated here the mechanism of c-Myc expression in hepatic cells under Cd treatment.

Association of Asef and Cdc42 expression to tubular injury in diseased human kidney.

Background: Cdc42 is a small guanosine-5'-triphosphatase of the Rho family and plays essential roles in the establishment of cellular polarity and tight junctions in epithelial cells. Adenomatous polyposis coli-associated exchange factor (Asef) is a canonical guanine nucleotide exchange factor of Cdc42 and renders Cdc42 to be guanosine-5'-triphosphate bound and activated. The expression patterns and their significance in human renal diseases are unknown.

Determination of urine cofilin-1 level in acute kidney injury using a high-throughput localized surface plasmon-coupled fluorescence biosensor.

The actin-depolymerizing factor (ADF)/cofilin protein family has been reported to be associated with ischemia-induced renal disorders. We examine whether cofilin-1 is associated with acute kidney injury (AKI) using human urine samples. We exploited a 96-well based high-throughput biosensor that uses gold nanoparticles and a sandwich immunoassay to detect the urine cofilin-1 level of AKI patients.

Radial artery approach for endovascular salvage of occluded autogenous radial-cephalic fistulae.

Background: The endovascular salvage of occluded autogenous radial-cephalic fistulae is a more challenging procedure than that for stenotic fistulae. To obtain an access to the fistula is one of the keys to success. Both retrograde venous approach and brachial artery approach have some disadvantages.

Concurrent hepatic and ruptured renal angiomyolipoma in tuberous sclerosis complex.

Angiomyolipoma of the liver or kidney is one of the clinical manifestations of tuberous sclerosis complex. However, concurrence of angiomyolipoma in both liver and kidney associated with tuberous sclerosis complex is a rare entity. Renal angiomyolipomas with large aneurysms confer a higher probability of rupture as compared to small aneurysms.