Pregnancy and severely reduced renal mass: A stress model showing renal hyperfiltration.

Pregnancy may increase signs of renovascular stress. We compared pregnant sham operated (S) and 5/6 nephrectomy (NX) rats to examine the effect of pregnancy on reduced nephron number. Blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), body weight (BW), food/water intake, serum creatinine (Cr), urinalyses were assessed weekly, and end pregnancy renal histology examined.

New and developing diagnostic technologies for urinary tract infections.

Timely and accurate identification and determination of the antimicrobial susceptibility of uropathogens is central to the management of UTIs. Urine dipsticks are fast and amenable to point-of-care testing, but do not have adequate diagnostic accuracy or provide microbiological diagnosis. Urine culture with antimicrobial susceptibility testing takes 2-3 days and requires a clinical laboratory.

The transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 channel modulates uterine tone during pregnancy.

The importance of gaining insight into the mechanisms underlying uterine quiescence and contractility is highlighted by the absence of an effective strategy to prevent or treat preterm labor, the greatest cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity worldwide. Although current evidence suggests that in myometrial smooth muscle cells (mSMCs) calcium homeostasis is modulated near term to promote uterine contractility, the efficacy of blocking voltage-operated calcium channels is limited by dose-related cardiovascular side effects. Thus, we considered whether uterine contractility might be modulated by calcium entry via transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) channels.