Novel kidney injury biomarkers in a large cohort of children with sickle cell anemia.

The aim of this study was to compare novel kidney injury biomarkers in sickle cell anemia (SCA) children with and without albuminuria or glomerular hyperfiltration. A total of 358 Brazilian children with SCA were studied. Fifteen kidney injury biomarkers in urine were measured.

Biomarkers in vesicoureteral reflux: an overview.

This article aimed to review the role of cytokines, chemokines, growth factors and cellular adhesion molecules as biomarkers for vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) and reflux nephropathy (RN). We reviewed articles from 1979 onward by searching PubMed and Scopus utilizing the combination of words: 'VUR' or 'RN' and each one of the biomarkers. Genetic, inflammatory, fibrogenic, environmental and epigenetic factors responsible for renal scarring need to be better understood.

Differences in the immune-inflammatory profiles of unipolar and bipolar depression.

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar depression (BD) both share increased immune-inflammatory activation. However, there are unclear patterns of differences in peripheral immune profiles between them.

Methods: We examined such differences in 245 MDD and 59 BD patients, recruited in the same center, who were in an acute depressive episode of moderate severity.

Cytokines plasma levels during antidepressant treatment with sertraline and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS): results from a factorial, randomized, controlled trial.

Rationale: The inflammatory hypothesis of depression states that increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines triggered by external and internal stressors are correlated to the acute depressive state. This hypothesis also suggests that pharmacotherapy partly acts in depression through anti-inflammatory effects. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a novel, promising, non-invasive somatic treatment for depression, although its antidepressant mechanisms are only partly understood.