A dual perspective on the microwave-assisted synthesis of HCN polymers towards the chemical evolution and design of functional materials.

In this paper, the first study on NHCN polymerization induced by microwave radiation is described, where a singular kinetic behaviour, especially when this reaction is conducted in the absence of air, is found. As a result, a complex conjugated N-heterocyclic polymer system is obtained, whose properties are very different, and even improved according to morphological features, characterized by their X-ray diffraction patterns and scanning electron microscopy analysis, with respect to those produced under conventional thermal treatment. In addition, a wide variety of relevant bioorganics have been identified, such as amino acids, nucleobases, co-factors, etc.

Switching to sirolimus in renal transplant recipients with hepatitis C virus: a safe option.

Introduction: The presence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in renal transplant recipients is an independent risk factor for death and graft failure. Chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN) favored by the use of calcineurin inhibitors (CNI) is one of the main causes of graft loss, whereas sirolimus (SRL) has proven to maintain better graft function with lower rates of CAN.

Objectives And Methods: We developed a protocol to evaluate the safety of SRL in transplant recipients with respect to HCV.

The combined effect of pre-transplant triglyceride levels and the type of calcineurin inhibitor in predicting the risk of new onset diabetes after renal transplantation.

Background: Insulin resistance precedes overt diabetes in the general population and hypertriglyceridemia is a reliable marker of the disorder. Thus, patients in the waiting list with hypertriglyceridemia may be at risk for new-onset diabetes after transplantation (NODAT). Objectives.

Randomized controlled study comparing reduced calcineurin inhibitors exposure versus standard cyclosporine-based immunosuppression.

Background: Immunosuppressive regimens based on low doses of cyclosporine A (CsA) or tacrolimus (TAC) may improve short-term outcome after kidney transplantation (KT), but the optimal immunosuppressive protocol is currently unknown.

Methods: This study compared the 24-month efficacy and safety of two immunosuppressive regimens using reduced calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs) exposure with standard dosage of CsA in 240 patients who were randomized into three groups: group A (n=80): Thymoglobulin, CsA (4 mg/kg twice daily) plus azathioprine (1.5 mg/kg once daily); group B (n=80): basiliximab, CsA (2 mg/kg/ twice daily) plus mycophenolate mofetil (MMF; 1 g twice daily); and group C (n=80): basiliximab, TAC (0.

Gastrointestinal complications in renal transplant recipients: MITOS study.

Introduction And Methods: An epidemiologic multicenter study was performed to evaluate the prevalence and management of gastrointestinal (GI) complications in solid organ transplant patients. A total of 1788 recipients were included, 1132 of which corresponded to renal transplanted patients.

Results: The mean age for the renal transplanted patients was 52 +/- 13.

Calcineurin inhibitor reduction based on maintenance immunosuppression with mycophenolate mofetil in renal transplant patients: POP study.

Since calcineurin inhibitors (CNI) have been introduced, they have become the cornerstone of immunosuppression for renal transplant patients, but their cardiovascular and neurological toxicities, and primarily their renal toxicity, have brought about an increased effort to find combinations of immunosuppressants that are either CNI-free or that use minimum doses of these drugs. The weight of immunosuppression therefore lies with drugs that have a better toxicity profile. The POP observational transverse study including 213 renal transplant patients was designed to study CNI minimization strategies.

Glycated haemoglobin levels are related to chronic subclinical inflammation in renal transplant recipients without pre-existing or new onset diabetes.

Background: C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of chronic subclinical inflammation (CSI), is related to cardiovascular mortality in the general and renal transplant populations. In the general population, high CRP levels are associated with pre-diabetic glucose homeostasis alterations which may contribute to the proatherogenic effect of CSI.

Methods: We studied 134 consecutive renal transplant recipients without pre-existing or new onset diabetes.

Steroids and bone density in patients with functioning kidney allografts.

Introduction: Osteopenia and osteoporosis after renal transplantation have been associated with factors related to the cause of end-stage renal disease, as well as to clinical events and therapeutic factors in the posttransplant period. We studied the prevalence of low bone density (LBD) according to WHO criteria.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in a cohort of 106 patients (54 men and 52 women) with functioning renal allografts, who underwent bone densitometry (DEXA) of the lumbar spine and femoral neck.

Impact of metabolic syndrome on graft function and survival after cadaveric renal transplantation.

Background: The prevalence and consequences of metabolic syndrome after renal transplantation are not well established. Our aims are to analyze in a historic cohort of consecutive renal transplant recipients without diabetes: (1) the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its evolution to de novo posttransplantation diabetes mellitus (PTDM), and (2) its impact on graft function and graft and patient survival.

Methods: We studied 230 transplant recipients with stable graft function at 1 year (baseline) and at least 18 months of follow-up (assessment date).

[Epidemiologic study of infection by hepatitis C virus in a hemodialysis unit].

Objective: To analyze the prevalence of infection, the frequency of HCV genotypes and the epidemiology characteristics among the patients in hemodialysis treatment in one 25 years old hospital hemodialysis center and one 15 years old secondary unit by a transversal cross-section study in 1998.

Patients And Methods: 171 hemodialyzed-patients were studied. Patients sera were analyzed by the presence of HCV antibodies anti-VHC by a enzymoimmunoassay (Abbott Cientifica) and the presence of antibodies was confirmed by a line immunoassay (Inno-LIA HCV AbIII) and by the presence of VHC-RNA by reverse transcriptase PCR (Cobas Amplicor HCV).

Multifactorial thrombotic-type microangiopathy with skin ulcers and hepatitis C infection.

The case of a patient with hepatitis C virus infection who presented with symmetric ulcers of the legs is reported. She was found to have type III mixed cryoglobulinemia, high titers of anticardiolipin antibodies, lupus anticoagulant, and a free protein S deficiency. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of such an association.

The PlA2 polymorphism of the platelet glycoprotein IIIA gene as a risk factor for acute renal allograft rejection.

Glycoprotein IIIa/IIb is a membrane receptor for fibrinogen and von Willebrand factor that plays an important role in platelet aggregation. The beta integrin chain of this receptor, GPIIIa, is polymorphic, and the allele known as PlA2 has been associated with coronary thrombosis. The GPIIIa genotype of a cohort of 119 consecutive renal allograft recipients (46.

Nutritional status of CAPD patients at three years.

A nutritional assessment was carried out in 63 patients starting treatment from April 1990 up to December 1993. Anthropometric measurements were performed showing a prevalence of protein-calorie malnutrition (PCM) of 21% in a total of 142 clinical surveys carried out in the above-mentioned sample. A steady state of albumin levels in plasma was verified during a three-year follow-up period at a lower level than that of the control group.

Effect of recombinant human erythropoietin treatment on hemodynamic parameters in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis patients.

We studied the hemodynamic changes and the incidence of hypertension after correction of anemia with recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) in 25 hemodialysis (HD) and in 27 continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients with a mean age of 44.6 years and a mean time on dialysis of 43.6 months.

Peritoneal dialysis efficiency in CAPD patients in treatment with rHuEPO.

Possible modifications in peritoneal behaviour that can be caused by erythropoietin (EPO) treatment and/or correction of anemia in the ultrafiltration and peritoneal diffusion were studied in 24 CAPD patients. The evolution of the patients on the medium run was also studied. The dialysate to plasma ratio, the peritoneal clearance and the mass transfer coefficient of urea and creatinine and the ultrafiltration volume were studied, baseline, after reaching the hemoglobin target, and after eight months of treatment.

Could CAPD modulate the hemodynamic changes induced by rHuEPO treatment?

Hemodynamic response to treatment with erythropoietin has been analyzed on two different groups of patients. The first group of 25 patients was treated with hemodialysis. The second group of 27 was treated with peritoneal dialysis.

Low turnover bone disease is the more common form of bone disease in CAPD patients.

CAPD is considered a risk factor for low turnover bone disease. This was previously attributed to aluminum accumulation. We evaluated by biochemical and histomorphometric parameters (including double tetracycline labelling), 26 patients maintained on CAPD for 12-14 months.

Anemia in dialysis: its relation to acquired cystic kidney disease and serum levels of erythropoietin.

Acquired cystic kidney disease has been related to improvement of anemia in dialysis patients. It has been suggested that this could be due to erythropoietin production by the cysts. We studied 110 patients, 58 on hemodialysis and 52 on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, with an age of 48.

[Complications in diabetic patients on dialysis: experiences in 10 years of treatment using 3 technics].

In treated diabetic patients with terminal renal failure we have examined the complications arising from the dialysis technique used. 55 patients were followed up for 1.279 months.

[Morbidity and mortality of diabetic patients on dialysis in a 10-year program: value of combined treatment].

Morbidity and mortality derived from the employed techniques after ten year experience in treating patients afflicted with end-stage diabetic nephropathy by means of dialysis are evaluated. Hemodialysis (HD) was applied to 24 patients, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (OCPD) was employed in 33 patients and intermittent peritoneal dialysis (IPD) in nine patients. Cumulated experience with each technique was 529, 644, and 107 months, respectively.