Development of acquired cystic disease and adenocarcinoma of the kidney in glomerulonephritic chronic hemodialysis patients.

The fate of the contracted kidney in long-term hemodialysis patients was examined. Total kidney volume was measured by computer assisted tomography in 96 chronically hemodialyzed patients with chronic renal failure due to chronic glomerulonephritis. The presence of cysts and/or tumor in the renal parenchyma was evaluated.

Renal vascular response to interruption of the renin-angiotensin system in normal man.

We assessed the role of the renin-angiotensin system in the response of the renal circulation to restriction of sodium intake in 38 normal patients. Both saralasin (10 to 30 ng/kg/min), an angiotensin antagonist, and SQ 20881 (30 to 300microgram/kg), a converting enzyme inhibitor, induced a dose-related increase in renal blood flow (xenon 133 washout) only when the resin-angiotension system was activated by restriction of sodium intake to 10 MEq/day. Increasing doses of saralasin (100 to 1,000 ng/kg/min) reduced renal blood flow, presumably due to the angiotensin-like action of this partial agonist.

Bovine like-sexed male twins with chromosomal chimerism.

Sex-chromosomal chimerism (XX/XY) was described in a pair of bovine like-sexed male twins. One of the twins showed malformed external genitalia, and the other was phenotypically normal. It is proposed that sex-chromosomal chimerism is associated with a choriovascular anastomosis between like-sexed twins examined and "female fetus" which may be overlooked at parturition.

Isolation of cathepsin D from human leucocytes.

Acid and neutral protease activities were determined in the granule fractions of polymorpho and mononuclear leucocytes, separated from human blood by means of a discontinuous density gradient centrifugation. The mononuclear leucocytes contained only acid protease while preparations from polymorphonuclear leucocytes showed a predominant activity at neutral pH with a small peak in the acid range. A separation of the acid from the neutral enzyme could be obtained in the granule fraction of polymorphonuclear leucocytes by means of DEAE chomatography.

Blockade and stimulation of renal, adrenal, and vascular angiotensin II receptors with 1-Sar, 8-Ala angiotensin II in normal man.

We have assessed the capacity of an analogue of angiotensin II (A II), 1-Sar, 8-Ala A II (P113) in normal man to stimulate and block responses to A II in four systems: blood pressure was monitored directly from an arterial catheter, and renal blood flow was measured with 133Xe and arterial renin and aldosterone concentrations by radioimmunoassay. The 31 normal subjects were in balance on a daily intake of 200 meg sodium and 100 meq potassium to suppress endogenous renin. P113 administered intravenously induced a dose-related renal blood flow reduction, with a threshold dose of 0.