Renal X-inactivation in female individuals with X-linked Alport syndrome primarily determined by age.

X-linked Alport syndrome (AS) caused by hemizygous disease-causing variants in primarily affects males. Females with a heterozygous state show a diverse phenotypic spectrum ranging from microscopic hematuria to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) and extrarenal manifestations. In other X-linked diseases, skewed X-inactivation leads to preferential silencing of one X-chromosome and thus can determine the phenotype in females.

Different approaches to long-term treatment of aHUS due to MCP mutations: a multicenter analysis.

Background: Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) is a rare, life-threatening microangiopathy, frequently causing kidney failure. Inhibition of the terminal complement complex with eculizumab is the only licensed treatment but mostly requires long-term administration and risks severe side effects. The underlying genetic cause of aHUS is thought to influence the severity of initial and recurring episodes, with milder courses in patients with mutations in membrane cofactor protein (MCP).

A novel mutation within the lactase gene (LCT): the first report of congenital lactase deficiency diagnosed in Central Europe.

Background: Congenital lactase deficiency is an extremely rare gastrointestinal disorder characterized by neonatal-onset watery diarrhoea and failure to thrive. We present the first genetically confirmed case of congenital lactase deficiency in Central Europe.

Case Presentation: After an uneventful pregnancy and birth, a male newborn of consanguineous parents of Turkish origin presented with watery diarrhoea.

Urinary proteome analysis to exclude severe vesicoureteral reflux.

Objectives: High-grade vesicoureteral reflux (VUR, grade IV or V) is a risk factor for renal scarring, impaired renal function, and arterial hypertension. Voiding cystourethrography is the gold standard for detecting the severity of VUR. High-grade VUR is present in the minority of children with urinary tract infection (UTI), thus exposing the majority to invasive diagnostics that have no surgical consequence.

Urinary proteome analysis identifies infants but not older children requiring pyeloplasty.

One out of every five children suffering from ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO) requires pyeloplasty. This prevalence indicates an urgent necessity to identify high-grade UPJO as early as possible to avoid renal damage. A novel non-invasive proteomic urine test has recently been introduced that is able to detect these patients at an early stage.

Non-surgical management of a ruptured posttraumatic pancreatic pseudocyst in a child.

Generally speaking, isolated pancreatic injuries are rare after abdominal blunt trauma. However, the incidence of pancreatic injuries in children has risen in recent decades. Pancreatic pseudocyst represents a typical complication after acute pancreatitis due to blunt abdominal trauma.

Allylation and vinylation of aryl radicals generated from diazonium salts.

Allylation and vinylation of aryl radicals generated from aryl diazonium salts provides rapid and efficient access to chlorinated and brominated derivatives of styrene and allylbenzene. Allyl chlorides were found to be better substrates than bromides due to decreased halogen transfer. Donor- and acceptor-substituted diazonium salts are well tolerated.

Acute focal bacterial nephritis in 25 children.

Acute focal bacterial nephritis (AFBN), formerly known as lobar nephronia, is a rare form of interstitial bacterial nephritis. Most often described in adults with diabetes, there is only limited knowledge of AFBN in children. Ultrasound shows circular hypoechogenic, hypoperfused parenchyma lesions, which may be misdiagnosed as a renal abscess or tumor.

Intermolecular radical carboaminohydroxylation of olefins with aryl diazonium salts and TEMPO.

Highly reactive aryl radicals can selectively be reacted with a broad variety of activated and nonactivated olefinic substrates in the presence of nitroxyl radicals. Direct recombination of the aryl radical and the nitroxide as well as telomerization of the olefin is successfully suppressed by the reaction conditions.

IgACE: a placebo-controlled, randomized trial of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors in children and young people with IgA nephropathy and moderate proteinuria.

This European Community Biomedicine and Health Research-supported, multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial investigated the effect of an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACE-I) in children and young people with IgA nephropathy (IgAN), moderate proteinuria (>1 and <3.5 g/d per 1.73 m(2)) and creatinine clearance (CrCl) >50 ml/min per 1.

Fetal serum concentrations of cystatin C and beta2-microglobulin as predictors of postnatal kidney function.

Objectives: Cystatin C and beta(2)-microglobulin are established serum markers of renal function in children and adults. In contrast to creatinine, diaplacental exchange is minimal. The aim of the study was to establish reference values in fetal serum and to test their efficiency in predicting postnatal kidney function.

Holoprosencephaly and low molecular weight proteinuria: the human homologue of murine megalin deficiency.

We encountered a child with holoprosencephaly, pulmonary insufficiency, absent circulating vitamin D metabolites, mild albuminuria, and urinary excretion of vitamin D-binding protein. The child displayed a phenotype highly reminiscent of that observed in mice genetically deficient for megalin, a member of the low-density lipoprotein receptor superfamily. Only the Guthrie card was available from the child; the DNA sufficed for a limited haplotype analysis.

Quality of salivary tears following autologous submandibular gland transplantation for severe dry eye.

Background: This study aimed to characterise the composition of the pre-ocular fluid after transplantation of the autologous submandibular gland (SMG) for patients with severe dry eye.

Methods: Stimulated and unstimulated pre-ocular fluid from 15 patients (17 eyes) with a viable SMG graft ("SMG-salivary tears"), as well as normal tears and SMG saliva (20 normal subjects/ 20 eyes), was sampled. As global tear parameters, fern pattern analysis and SDS gel electrophoresis were performed.

Evaluation of pediatric nephropathies by a computerized Urine Protein Expert System (UPES).

A computerized Urine Protein Expert System (UPES) measuring creatinine, total protein, albumin, IgG, alpha(1)-microglobulin, alpha(2)-macroglobulin, and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase, together with urine dipstick testing for granulocyte esterase and hemoglobin pseudoperoxidase, and measurement of serum creatinine had been found to be useful in adults for differentiating between renal disorders. The objective of this study was to investigate UPES for identifying the different types of proteinuria and their underlying prerenal, glomerular, tubular, and postrenal causes in 146 children characterized by routine and invasive nephrological investigations. UPES proved to be a useful tool in pediatric renal patients after refinements were implemented in the program.

Kidney involvement in a 17-year-old boy with eosinophilic fasciitis.

Eosinophilic fasciitis (EF) is characterized by symmetrical scleroderma-like induration of skin over one or more distal extremities, peripheral eosinophilia, absence of Raynaud phenomenon and visceral involvement and a favourable response to systemically administered corticosteroids. Like other scleroderma-like disorders EF is rarely described in children. We report renal involvement in a 17-year-old boy with EF.

Quality of salivary tears following autologous submandibular gland transplantation for severe dry eye.

Background: This study aimed to characterise the composition of the pre-ocular fluid after transplantation of the autologous submandibular gland (SMG) for patients with severe dry eye.

Methods: Stimulated and unstimulated pre-ocular fluid from 15 patients (17 eyes) with a viable SMG graft ("SMG-salivary tears"), as well as normal tears and SMG saliva (20 normal subjects/20 eyes), was sampled. As global tear parameters, fern pattern analysis and SDS gel electrophoresis were performed.

Pharmacokinetics and selectivity of aminolevulinic acid-induced porphyrin synthesis in patients with cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT), due to its tumor selectivity, represents an alternative approach to diagnose and treat cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN) without altering normal surrounding tissue. Our aim was to investigate the pharmacokinetics and the selectivity of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA)-induced porphyrin fluorescence after topical administration, to obtain basic clinical data for future diagnostic fluorescence imaging and PDT protocols for CIN. Twenty-eight non-pregnant women with a cytological diagnosis of low-grade or high-grade squamous intra-epithelial lesions were included.