Efficacy and Safety of Direct Oral Anticoagulants in Kidney Transplantation: A Single-center Pilot Experience.

Background: Oral anticoagulation therapy is frequently prescribed to kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) for prevention and treatment of thrombotic events. Over the past 10 y, direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have shown similar efficacy with a safety profile equal or superior to that of vitamin K antagonist anticoagulants (VKAs) in the general population. However, little data are available on kidney transplantation.

The Association Between Fibroblast Growth Factor 23 and Renal Transplantation Outcome Is Modified by Follow-up Duration and Glomerular Filtration Rate Assessment Method.

Introduction: Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) could contribute to cardiovascular morbidity in chronic kidney disease. In studies of kidney transplant recipients, a high circulating level of FGF23 has been associated with death and graft loss independently of estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Whether FGF23 is associated with adverse outcomes in the early posttransplantation period is unknown.

Arterio-venous fistula for automated red blood cells exchange in patients with sickle cell disease: Complications and outcomes.

Erythrocytapheresis (ER) can improve outcome in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). A good vascular access is required but frequently it can be difficult to obtain for sickle cell patients. Arterio-venous fistulas (AVFs) have been suggested for ER in SCD supported by limited evidence.

Prevalence and predictors of early cardiovascular events after kidney transplantation: evaluation of pre-transplant cardiovascular work-up.

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality after renal transplantation. The purpose of this study was to analyze cardiovascular risk factors at transplantation, occurrence of cardiovascular events in the first year after transplantation and evaluate pre-transplant work-up.

Material And Method: In total, 244 renal transplant recipients older than 50 years were included.

Evaluation of the impact of the recent controversy over statins in France: the EVANS study.

Background: The effect of statins on the prevention of cardiovascular events is well-established. However, a recent controversy in France questioned the value of statins, especially in primary prevention.

Aims: To evaluate the impact of this controversy on patient adherence to statin therapy and its potential clinical impact.

[Senile systemic amyloidosis: definition, diagnosis, why thinking about?].

Senile systemic amyloidosis (SSA) is characterized by infiltration of amyloid transthyretin fibrils in the myocardium. SSA occurs mainly (but not always) in elderly men. SSA leads to hypertrophic and/or restrictive cardiomyopathy complicated by conduction disturbances, atrial arrhythmia and systemic embolization (stroke…).

Composite cell sheets: a further step toward safe and effective myocardial regeneration by cardiac progenitors derived from embryonic stem cells.

Background: The safety and efficacy of myocardial regeneration using embryonic stem cells are limited by the risk of teratoma and the high rate of cell death.

Methods And Results: To address these issues, we developed a composite construct made of a sheet of adipose tissue-derived stroma cells and embryonic stem cell-derived cardiac progenitors. Ten Rhesus monkeys underwent a transient coronary artery occlusion followed, 2 weeks later, by the open-chest delivery of the composite cell sheet over the infarcted area or a sham operation.

Tissue kallikrein deficiency and renovascular hypertension in the mouse.

The kallikrein kinin system (KKS) is involved in arterial and renal functions. It may have an antihypertensive effect in both essential and secondary forms of hypertension. The role of the KKS in the development of two-kidneys, one-clip (2K1C) hypertension, a high-renin model, was investigated in mice rendered deficient in tissue kallikrein (TK) and kinins by TK gene inactivation (TK-/-) and in their wild-type littermates (TK+/+).

Self-assembling peptide nanofibers and skeletal myoblast transplantation in infarcted myocardium.

Cell transplantation is currently limited by poor graft retention and survival in the postinfarction scar. Because this issue could potentially be addressed by embedding cells in bioinjectable scaffolds and boosting cell survival pathways, we induced a myocardial infarction in 72 rats to assess the effects of different self-assembling peptides with or without platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF-BB) on survival of transplanted skeletal myoblasts. Two weeks after coronary artery ligation, rats were randomized to receive in-scar injections of culture medium (controls, n = 11), self-assembling peptide (RAD16-I) nanofibers (NF, n = 9), skeletal myoblasts (n = 12), or skeletal myoblasts in combination with NF (n = 8).

Is xenotransplantation of embryonic stem cells a realistic option?

To test the purported immune privilege of embryonic stem cells (ESC) in the challenging setting of xenotransplantation, 14 immunocompetent baboons were subjected to a coronary artery occlusion-reperfusion sequence and, two weeks later, randomized to receive in-scar injections of culture medium or cardiac-committed mouse ESC engineered to express fluorescent reporter genes driven by cardiac-specific promoters. Two months after transplantation, left ventricular function, as assessed by echocardiography, deteriorated to a similar extent in control and treated baboons. This correlated with failure to identify the grafted cells by X-gal histology and immunofluorescence.

Can bone marrow-derived multipotent adult progenitor cells regenerate infarcted myocardium?

Objectives: To assess the functional effects of multipotent adult progenitor cells (MAPCs) transplanted in a rat model of chronic myocardial infarction.

Methods: Forty-four rats underwent coronary ligation and, 14 days later, were randomly allocated to receive in-scar injections (5 x 10(6) cells/150 microL) of green fluorescent protein (eGFP)-transduced allogeneic MAPCs (n = 25) or culture medium (controls, n = 19). Nine of the MAPC-treated hearts were employed for functional studies while the remaining 16 received cells co-labeled with Resovist and were only used for serial histological assessments.

Can cold or heat shock improve skeletal myoblast engraftment in infarcted myocardium?

Objective: Cell death remains a major limitation of skeletal myoblast (SM) transplantation but the patterns of cell survival and proliferation in heart and their potential modulation by thermic stresses like heat shock (HS) and cryopreservation (Cryo) are still incompletely characterized.

Methods: To track SMs in situ, we developed a dual-marker system based on the semiconservative expression of the foreign soluble protein, beta-Galactosidase (beta-Gal) and the constitutive expression of the Y chromosome in a myocardial infarction model. Control medium or Lewis male rat SMs (fresh or subjected to Cryo or HS) were injected in Lewis female rats.