Glutamine supplementation accelerates functional recovery of EDL muscles after injury by modulating the expression of S100 calcium-binding proteins.

The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of glutamine supplementation on the expression of HSP70 and the calcium-binding proteins from the S100 superfamily in the recovering extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle after injury. Two-month-old Wistar rats were subjected to cryolesion of the EDL muscle and then randomly divided into two groups (with or without glutamine supplementation). Starting immediately after the injury, the supplemented group received daily doses of glutamine (1 g/kg/day, via gavage) for 3 and 10 days orally.

Glutamine supplementation improves contractile function of regenerating soleus muscles from rats.

This study evaluated the effects of glutamine supplementation immediately after freezing injury on morphological and contractile function of regenerating soleus muscles from rats. Young male Wistar rats were subjected to cryolesion of soleus muscles, and immediately after received a daily supplementation of glutamine (1 g/kg/day). The muscles were evaluated on post-injury days 3 and 10.

[Home hemodialysis: multicenter observational study].

Home dialysis is a primary objective of Italian Ministry of Health. As stated in the National Chronicity Plan and the Address Document for Chronic Renal Disease, it is mostly home hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis to be carried out in the patient's home. Home hemodialysis has already been used in the past and today has found new technologies and new applications.

Diagnostic capability of ultrasound in peritoneal catheter malfunction compared to videolaparoscopy.

Background: The approach to peritoneal catheter malfunction consists usually in a diagnostic and therapeutic sequence of laxative prescription, abdominal radiography, brushing of the catheter, guide-wire manipulation or fluoroscopy and in the end of a videolaparoscopy (VLS) rescue intervention. Ultrasound (US) is able to find out major causes of peritoneal catheter malfunction, however without a clearly defined diagnostic value. The aim of the study was to validate the diagnostic capability of US in catheter malfunction compared to the diagnostic reference of VLS.

[The COVID-19 pandemic and hemodialysis: a multicentric experience].

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has forced a reshaping of economic, productive, commercial and healthcare systems. The last one had the dual mandate to limit intra-hospital infections and strengthen its ability to deal with the ongoing emergency. In this paper we report the experience gained by the staff of the Nephrology and Dialysis Unit of the AULSS7 Pedemontana (Vicenza - Veneto region) and the organizational model pursued during the first wave of the pandemic.

Clinical management of patients on peritoneal dialysis in Italy: results from the ATENA study.

Background: In Italy, few studies have examined the clinical management of peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients, resulting in a lack of information and awareness.

Methods: A total of 378 PD patients (64.7 ± 14.

Chronic cannabis use and attentional bias: Extended attentional capture to cannabis cues.

Introduction: A significant proportion of chronic cannabis users experience occupational, social, and psychological problems thought to reflect, in part, cannabis-related cognitive and emotional attentional biases. The emotional attentional blink (EAB) is a unique test of attentional bias that assesses automatic responses, cue-detection failures, and rapid and temporally extended biases. Using the EAB, we tested users' and non-users' attentional biases and how cannabis exposure correlates with these attentional biases.

Stroke volume variation and serum creatinine changes during abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery: a time-integrated analysis.

Background: Patients undergoing abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) surgery with suprarenal clamping are at high risk for acute kidney injury (AKI) and major cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE). We aimed to assess whether the stroke volume variation (SVV), a measure of hemodynamic instability, is associated with AKI in hypertensive patients undergoing elective AAA surgery with suprarenal clamping.

Methods: In a cohort of 51 hypertensive patients, we performed serial measurements of SVV (n = 459) and serum creatinine (sCr) (n = 255).

Kidney and heavy metals - The role of environmental exposure (Review).

Heavy metals are extensively used in agriculture and industrial applications such as production of pesticides, batteries, alloys, and textile dyes. Prolonged, intensive or excessive exposure can induce related systemic disorders. Kidney is a target organ in heavy metal toxicity for its capacity to filter, reabsorb and concentrate divalent ions.

The potential role of hyaluronan in minimizing symptoms and preventing exacerbations of chronic rhinosinusitis.

Background: This study was designed to prospectively evaluate the role of nebulized hyaluronic acid (HA) given for 10 days/mo over 3 months as adjunct treatment to minimize symptoms and preventing exacerbation of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS).

Methods: Thirty-nine eligible patients were randomized to receive nebulized 9-mg sodium hyaluronate nasal washes plus saline solution (21 patients) or 5 mL of saline alone (18 patients), according to an open-label, parallel-group design, with blind observer assessment. A questionnaire about main CRS discomfort and nasal endoscopy for mucous discharge and/or mucosal edema of nasal cavities was used to assess primary outcomes of treatments.

[The role of bioelectrical impedance in peritoneal dialysis].

Dialysis must control the bodys fluid content accurately in order to maintain optimal health. Determination of body hydration and nutritional status are significant problems in dialysis patients. In practice, clinical evaluation is usually used to estimate the ultrafiltration target, since accurate knowledge of dry weight is lacking.

The peritoneal dialysis catheter.

The results obtained from the positioning and management of the catheter for peritoneal dialysis depend on the techniques used, but also and above all, on the experience of the practitioners. A comparison between practitioners may help to change their convictions, as well as to further improve results, in the interests of patient welfare. This is the aim of these Best Practice Guidelines.

Motor imagery in spinal cord injury patients: moving makes the difference.

Both real action control and execution and motor imagery abilities require knowledge of the spatial location of body parts, in other words efference copy information and feedbacks from the sensory system (Frith et al., 2000, Philos. Trans.

Controlling the alien hand through the mirror box. A single case study of alien hand syndrome.

Disruption of motor control in the alien hand syndrome might result from a dissociation between intentions and sensory information. We hypothesized that voluntary motor control in this condition could improve by restoring the congruency between motor intentions and visual feedback. The present study shows that, in one patient with right alien hand syndrome, the use of a mirror box paradigm improved motor speed.

Exploring motor and visual imagery in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a motor neuron disease characterized by the progressive atrophy of both the first and the second motor neurons. Although the cognitive profile of ALS patients has already been defined by the occurrence of language dysfunctions and frontal deficit symptoms, it is less clear whether the degeneration of upper and lower motor neurons affects motor imagery abilities. Here, we directly investigated motor imagery in ALS patients by means of an established task that allows to examine the presence of the effects of the biomechanical constraints.

[Unconventional hemodiafiltration: double-high-flux and push-pull].

Growing evidence demonstrates that morbidity and mortality in patients with end-stage renal disease correlate significantly with retention of larger uremic toxins including β2 microglobulin. Even when hemodialysis is performed, complications such as dialysis-associated amyloidosis are likely to develop. These complications seem to be related to the retention and accumulation of larger uremic substances, only a small amount of which are removed by hemodialysis.

Bioelectrical impedance analysis in the assessment of hydration status in peritoneal dialysis patients.

Objective: Assessment of fluid status in chronic peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients is complex. Clinical evaluation based solely on body weight, blood pressure, volume of ultrafiltration (UF) and peripheral edema is insufficient. A non-invasive test, bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) might be of potential benefit.

[Diagnosis and therapy of exit-site infection in peritoneal dialysis: an update].

Exit-site infection (ESI) is still one of the most important technical complications in peritoneal dialysis because it can lead to peritonitis and catheter loss. Catheter choice does not appear to affect exit-site infection in most cases. Early diagnosis is extremely important in reducing such complications.

Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis and automated peritoneal dialysis: are there differences in outcome?

The proportion of peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients on automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) has been steadily increasing over the past decade. In the US, the percentage of PD patients on APD has steadily risen from 9% in 1993 to 54% in 2000. In continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), PD exchanges are performed manually, while in APD a mechanical device to assist the delivery and drainage of dialysate is employed.

[Health-related quality of life in patients with chronic kidney disease].

Assessment of quality of life in patients with different degrees of chronic kidney disease is an important issue because of its impact on clinical decisions and financial resource management in the health-care system. The aim of this study was to assess whether a generic instrument like the SF-36 questionnaire is able to discriminate three different populations of patients with different degrees of renal disease (pre-ESRD, ESRD, TxR). Five hundred sixty-three patients from 12 Italian nephrology units completed the SF-36 scales by themselves.

PD and HD in combination.

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) and hemodialysis (HD) are the most used therapies for endstage renal disease (ESRD). Peritoneal dialysis offers the advantages of long, slow, continuous ultrafiltration and preserve residual renal function (RRF) one of the most important factors affecting outcomes in PD. In contrast, HD offers superior solute removal but with undesirable cardiovascular tolerance of high rates of sodium and water removal.

Advances in the technology of automated, tidal, and continuous flow peritoneal dialysis.

Automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) has undergone substantial growth in recent years because of an increased demand for higher doses of peritoneal dialysis (PD) treatment and a need to improve quality of life for patients. The evolution of this treatment is closely linked with the development of new automatic machines and with recent advances in prescription and monitoring of PD treatment. In the present article, we describe the characteristics of the new generation of APD cyclers with particular regard to adequacy targets and safety.