Analysis of the NPHP genes in two Japanese patients with suspected sporadic juvenile or adolescent nephronophthisis.

Background: Mutations in 3 genes (NPHP1, NPHP3 and NPHP4) have been identified in patients with juvenile or adolescent nephronophthisis (NPHP) without extrarenal involvement, mainly in patients from western countries. In this study, we analyzed mutations in the NPHP genes of 2 Japanese patients with suspected sporadic juvenile or adolescent NPHP without extrarenal involvement.

Methods: A renal biopsy was performed in the 2 patients.

Complications of IgA nephropathy in a non-insulin-dependent diabetes model, the Akita mouse.

The Akita mouse, which has a mutation (Cys96Tyr) in the insulin 2 gene (Ins2(Akita)), is a model for diabetes. The male Akita mouse has diabetes, while females develop mild diabetes. This study aimed to investigate renal complications in the Akita mouse model, which has been maintained in a heterozygous state Ins2(Akita) (+/-) with a C57BL/6 background (B6).

Increased expression of glutathione S-transferase in renal proximal tubules in the early stages of diabetes: a study of type-2 diabetes in the Akita mouse model.

Background/aim: The objective of this study was to examine whether the gene expression profile in the kidney is modified by hyperglycemia in the early stage of diabetes.

Methods: We analyzed the expression of kidney mRNAs using cDNA array membranes including 588 genes in the kidney of the Akita mouse, a model of type-2 diabetes, after exposure to hyperglycemia for a moderate length of time, but before the manifestation of diabetic glomerulosclerosis. Western blot analysis and immunohistochemical studies were performed to confirm whether the protein for the increasingly expressed mRNA was highly expressed in the kidney of the diabetic mouse.

Human parathyroid hormone does not influence human erythropoiesis in vitro.

Background: Although renal anaemia is associated with secondary hyperparathyroidism, the relationship of both conditions remains obscure. Previously it was reported that high levels of bovine parathyroid hormone (PTH) did not inhibit in vitro human erythropoiesis, but whether human PTH inhibits in vitro human erythropoiesis has not been determined.

Method: To clarify the direct effects of human biologically active N-terminal (1-34) PTH and intact (1-84) PTH on human haematopoietic progenitor growth, we investigated colony assays of human erythropoiesis and granulomonopoiesis.

Clinical application of the Personal Dialysis Capacity (PDC) test: serial analysis of peritoneal function in CAPD patients.

Background: Peritoneal damage has been reported since the beginning of CAPD therapy.

Methods: To clarify the change of peritoneal function in CAPD patients, we used the Personal Dialysis Capacity (PDC) test in 22 patients with 49 serial studies and 14 patients with single studies. The data were expressed at the condition of 2.