Vascular tone regulation in renal interlobar arteries of male rats is dysfunctional after intrauterine growth restriction.

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) due to an adverse intrauterine environment predisposes to arterial hypertension and loss of kidney function. Here, we investigated whether vascular dysregulation in renal interlobar arteries (RIAs) may contribute to hypertensive glomerular damage after IUGR. In rats, IUGR was induced by bilateral uterine vessel ligation.

Altered molecular signatures during kidney development after intrauterine growth restriction of different origins.

This study was performed to identify transcriptional alterations in male intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR) rats during and at the end of nephrogenesis in order to generate hypotheses which molecular mechanisms contribute to adverse kidney programming. IUGR was induced by low protein (LP) diet throughout pregnancy, bilateral uterine vessel ligation (LIG), or intrauterine stress (IUS) by sham operation. Offspring of unimpaired dams served as controls.

Discontinuation of maintenance therapy in frequently relapsing nephrotic syndrome .

Childhood steroid-dependent (SDNS) and frequently relapsing (FRNS) nephrotic syndromes often require long-term immunosuppressive therapy to maintain remission. Successful discontinuation of maintenance therapy remains to be a challenge with these children. In the following article, we report our experience on patients after discontinuation of steroid-sparing immunosuppressive maintenance therapy (IT).

Vildagliptin and pioglitazone in patients with impaired glucose tolerance after kidney transplantation: a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Background: New-onset diabetes after transplantation (NODAT) is a serious complication after kidney transplantation affecting graft and patient survival. Currently, no guidelines exist for the management of renal transplant patients with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), a risk factor for the development of NODAT and an independent predictor of death.

Methods: In a population of 48 stable renal transplant recipients at least 6 months from time of transplantation with newly diagnosed IGT, we tested the dipeptidylpeptidase-4 inhibitor vildagliptin, the thiazolidinedione pioglitazone, or placebo for 3 months in addition to lifestyle counseling.

Dissecting the impact of Frizzled receptors in Wnt/β-catenin signaling of human mesenchymal stem cells.

Wnt/β-catenin signaling is of fundamental importance in the regulation of self-renewal, migration/invasion, and differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). Because little information is available about the function of Frizzled receptors (Fzds) as the main receptors of Wnt proteins in hMSCs, we first performed comparative Fzd mRNA expression profiling. Fzd9 and Fzd10 were not expressed in hMSCs.