Masked hypertension is prevalent in children with sickle cell disease: a Midwest Pediatric Nephrology Consortium study.

Background: The prevalence of hypertension and abnormal blood pressure (BP) patterns on 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) remains unknown in children with sickle cell disease (SCD).

Methods: Thirty-eight asymptomatic children with sickle cell disease (SCD) (12 HbSS receiving routine care, 13 HbSC, and 13 HbSS receiving chronic transfusion therapy) underwent 24-h ABPM. Average clinic BP, demographic and biochemical characteristics were collected.

Graft outcomes in pediatric kidney transplantation: focus on the role of race.

While significant racial disparities in graft outcome persist among adult and pediatric kidney transplant recipients in the US, some international studies do not show these differences. The aim of this study is to examine predictors of graft outcomes and the impact of race in our pediatric kidney transplant cohort. Records of 109 pediatric kidney transplant recipients performed at our institution between 7/99 and 4/07 were studied.

Activation of PPAR-γ and PTEN cascade participates in lovastatin-mediated accelerated differentiation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells.

Previously, we and others documented that statins including-lovastatin (LOV) promote the differentiation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) and remyelination in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an multiple sclerosis (MS) model. Conversely, some recent studies demonstrated that statins negatively influence oligodendrocyte (OL) differentiation in vitro and remyelination in a cuprizone-CNS demyelinating model. Therefore, herein, we first investigated the cause of impaired differentiation of OLs by statins in vitro settings.

Prevalence and clinical correlates of microalbuminuria in children with sickle cell disease.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is associated with a large spectrum of renal abnormalities, one of which, microalbuminuria/proteinuria (MA/P), is a known predictor of end-stage renal disease. We studied 90 children with SCD (57% male; mean age 11.4 +/- 5.

Simvastatin protects bladder and renal functions following spinal cord injury in rats.

Background: Urinary bladder and renal dysfunction are secondary events associated with spinal cord injury (SCI) in humans. These secondary events not only compromise quality of life but also delay overall recovery from SCI pathophysiology. Furthermore, in experimental models the effects of SCI therapy on bladder and renal functions are generally not evaluated.

Increasing incidence of kidney stones in children evaluated in the emergency department.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that there is an increase in the incidence of childhood nephrolithiasis in the state of South Carolina.

Study Design: We analyzed demographic data from a statewide database on incidence of kidney stones from emergency department data and financial charges. Data were compared with population data from the US Census to control for population growth.

Attenuation of renal ischemia/reperfusion injury by a triple drug combination therapy.

Background: Renal ischemia is of great clinical interest because of its role in renal failure and renal graft rejection. The purpose of this study was to investigate the therapeutic effects of a combination therapy of: n-acetyl cysteine (NAC), a potent antioxidant, sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a nitric oxide donor and phosphormidon (P), an endothelin-1 converting enzyme inhibitor, on tissue protection against renal ischemia/reperfusion injury in the canine model.

Methods: In this study, 15-20 kg male dogs were subjected to 90 minutes of warm unilateral renal ischemia after removal of one kidney and then divided into control, ischemia alone and treatment groups.

Combination therapy of N-acetylcysteine, sodium nitroprusside and phosphoramidon attenuates ischemia-reperfusion injury in rat kidney.

Renal ischemia is of clinical interest because of its role in renal failure and also renal graft rejection. To evaluate the effect of the combination of N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a potent antioxidant, sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a nitric oxide donor, and phosphoramidon (P), an endothelin converting enzyme inhibitor, on tissue protection against ischemia-reperfusion injury, we studied the biochemical and morphological changes due to 90 min of renal ischemia-reperfusion in the rat model. Ninety min of ischemia caused very severe injury and the animals could not survive after 4 days without any treatment.