Management Strategies for Potassium Levels During Non-steroidal Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonist Therapy: A Comprehensive Review.

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a leading cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Recent advancements highlight the role of finerenone, a non-steroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (nsMRA), in DKD management. Studies like FIDELIO-DKD, FIGARO-DKD, and FIDELITY have demonstrated finerenone's efficacy in reducing CKD progression and cardiovascular risks in DKD patients.

Characteristics of glomerulonephritis with dominant C1q precipitation compared to corresponding glomerulonephritis without C1q staining on immunofluorescent examination.

Background: The clinical significance and renal outcomes of C1q nephropathy (C1qN) are unclear; therefore, the implications of C1qN as a new pathological entity are uncertain. We compared the clinical characteristics of glomerulonephritis reclassified into cases that meet the definition of C1qN and glomerulonephritis not included in the definition of C1qN.

Methods: In total, 21,697 patients who underwent native kidney biopsy at 18 hospitals throughout Korea between 1979 and 2018 were retrospectively enrolled.

Outcomes of minimal change disease without nephrotic range proteinuria.

Minimal change disease (MCD) is characterized by edema and nephrotic range proteinuria (NS). However, the fate of MCD without nephrotic proteinuria requires elucidation. We retrospectively reviewed 79 adults diagnosed with primary MCD at their initial renal biopsy at a tertiary hospital between May 2003 and June 2017.

Metformin Use and Long-term Clinical Outcomes in Kidney Transplant Recipients.

Rationale & Objective: Metformin has been recommended for some patients with advanced chronic kidney disease. However, the value of metformin in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) with pretransplant diabetes mellitus (DM) or posttransplant DM is uncertain. We investigated the clinical effects of metformin in KTRs.

Comparison of dominant and nondominant C3 deposition in primary glomerulonephritis.

Background: Alternative complement pathway dysregulation plays a key role in glomerulonephritis (GN) and is associated with C3 deposition. Herein, we examined pathological and clinical differences between cases of primary GN with C3-dominant (C3D-GN) and nondominant (C3ND-GN) deposition.

Methods: We extracted primary GN data from the Korean GlomeruloNEphritis sTudy (KoGNET).

The Efficacy and Safety of SGLT2 Inhibitor in Diabetic Kidney Transplant Recipients.

Background: The efficacy and safety of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) have not been investigated in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) with diabetes. We evaluated the impact of SGLT2i in a multicenter cohort of diabetic KTRs.

Methods: A total of 2083 KTRs with diabetes were enrolled from 6 transplant centers in Korea.

Three-Dimensional Kidney-on-a-Chip Assessment of Contrast-Induced Kidney Injury: Osmolality and Viscosity.

Increased viscosity of concentrated contrast media (CM) in the renal tubules can perturb renal hemodynamics and have a detrimental effect on tubular epithelial cells. However, the effects of viscosity on contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) remain poorly understood. Conventional in vitro culture studies do not reflect the rheological properties of CM.

The importance of muscle mass in predicting intradialytic hypotension in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis.

Background: Patients undergoing hemodialysis are susceptible to sarcopenia. As intracellular reservoirs of water, skeletal muscles are important contributors to intradialytic hypotension. This study was designed to determine the role of skeletal muscle mass in intradialytic hypotension.

Additive harmful effects of acute kidney injury and acute heart failure on mortality in hospitalized patients.

Background: Organ crosstalk between the kidney and the heart has been suggested. Acute kidney injury (AKI) and acute heart failure (AHF) are well-known independent risk factors for mortality in hospitalized patients. This study aimed to investigate if these conditions have an additive effect on mortality in hospitalized patients, as this has not been explored in previous studies.

Renal outcomes of laparoscopic versus open surgery in patients with rectal cancer: a propensity score analysis.

Background: A laparoscopic approach is widely used in abdominal surgery. Although several studies have compared surgical and oncological outcomes between laparoscopic surgery (LS) and open surgery (OS) in rectal cancer patients, there have been few studies on postoperative renal outcomes.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study involving 1,633 patients who underwent rectal cancer surgery between 2003 and 2017.

Role of Human Primary Renal Fibroblast in TGF-β1-Mediated Fibrosis-Mimicking Devices.

Renal fibrosis is a progressive chronic kidney disease that ultimately leads to end-stage renal failure. Despite several approaches to combat renal fibrosis, an experimental model to evaluate currently available drugs is not ideal. We developed fibrosis-mimicking models using three-dimensional (3D) co-culture devices designed with three separate layers of tubule interstitium, namely, epithelial, fibroblastic, and endothelial layers.

Association between copeptin levels and treatment responses to hypertonic saline infusion in patients with symptomatic hyponatremia: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Copeptin is secreted in equimolar amounts as arginine vasopressin, main hormone regulating body fluid homeostasis. A recent study reported a copeptin-based classification of osmoregulatory defects in syndromes of inappropriate antidiuresis that may aid in prediction of therapeutic success. We investigated usefulness of copeptin for differentiating etiologies of hyponatremia and predicting efficacy and safety of hypertonic saline treatment in hyponatremic patients.

Effect of estimating equations for glomerular filtration rate on novel surrogate markers for renal outcome.

Backgrounds: Recently, alternative surrogate endpoints such as a 30% or 40% decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) or eGFR slope over 2 to 3 years have been proposed for predicting renal outcomes. However, the impact of GFR estimation methods on the accuracy and effectiveness of surrogate markers is unknown.

Methods: We retrospectively enrolled participants in health screening programs at three hospitals from 1995 to 2009.

Real-Time Clinical Decision Support Based on Recurrent Neural Networks for In-Hospital Acute Kidney Injury: External Validation and Model Interpretation.

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is commonly encountered in clinical practice and is associated with poor patient outcomes and increased health care costs. Despite it posing significant challenges for clinicians, effective measures for AKI prediction and prevention are lacking. Previously published AKI prediction models mostly have a simple design without external validation.

Association between Serum Uric Acid Level and ESRD or Death in a Korean Population.

Background: Serum uric acid (SUA) is recognized as a risk factor for chronic kidney disease (CKD) and mortality. However, there is controversy as to whether a high or low level of SUA is related to the risk of CKD progression or death, and whether it differs between males and females.

Methods: We included 143,762 adults who underwent voluntary health screening between 1995 and 2009 in Korea.

Cancer development and mortality differences in patients with glomerulonephritis after renal biopsy: a single center retrospective cohort study.

Background: The association between glomerulonephritis (GN) and cancer has been well known for decades. However, studies evaluating long-term de novo cancer development in patients with GN are limited. This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of cancer development among patients with renal biopsy-proven GN during post-biopsy follow-up and the differences in outcomes according to cancer occurrence.

Association of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring with renal outcome in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Background: The significance of ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) in Korean patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in relation to renal outcome or death remains unclear. We investigated the role of ABP in predicting end-stage renal disease or death in patients with CKD.

Methods: We enrolled 387 patients with hypertension and CKD who underwent ABP monitoring and were followed for 1 year.

C1q nephropathy in adults is a form of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in terms of clinical characteristics.

Although C1q nephropathy (C1qN) was introduced three decades ago, the clinical significance and renal outcomes of C1qN remain unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical characteristics of C1qN, including renal outcomes, by performing a matched comparison within a multicenter cohort. We enrolled 6,413 adult patients who underwent kidney biopsy between January 2000 and January 2018 at three tertiary hospitals in Korea.

Health Screening among HBV Carriers in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey V (KNHANES V).

We aimed to investigate the differences in health screening, including medical checkups and cancer screening, between HBV carriers and non-carriers in the Republic of Korea. In the fifth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES V), conducted between 2010 and 2012, 17,865 persons who answered regarding their HBV-infection status, medical checkup history, liver cancer screening and general cancer screening within the past years were included in the final analysis. In total, 295 persons were HBV carriers.