Early withdrawal of calcineurin inhibitor from a sirolimus-based immunosuppression stabilizes fibrosis and the transforming growth factor-β signalling pathway in kidney transplant.

Aim: The focus in renal transplantation is to increase long-term allograft survival. One of the limiting factors is calcineurin inhibitor (CNI)-induced fibrosis. This study attempted to examine the histological aspect of interstitial fibrosis and the modulation of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) canonical signalling pathway following early withdrawal of CNI from sirolimus-based immunosuppressive therapy.

Violence against women: profile of the aggressors and victims and characterization of the injuries. A forensic study.

Objective: This study, carried out based on examinations of battered women by the Clinical Forensic Service of the Afrânio Peixoto Medical-Legal Institute in the city of Rio de Janeiro, aims to characterize the nature of the injuries suffered by victims of domestic violence and to investigate the motivation of such events, the family situations in which they occur, the habits of victims and aggressors and the social milieu involved.

Method: A questionnaire was given to 1000 battered women attended by that service between October 2009 and March 2012, along with simultaneous quantification/classification of the injuries suffered.

Results: We found a prevalence of working women (63.

The evaluation of sequential platelet counts has prognostic value for acute kidney injury patients requiring dialysis in the intensive care setting.

Objective: To evaluate the prognostic value of platelet counts in acute kidney injury patients requiring renal replacement therapy.

Methods: This prospective cohort study was performed in three tertiary-care hospitals. Platelet counts were obtained upon admission to the intensive care unit and during the first week of renal replacement therapy on days 1, 3, 5 and 7.

The renal clearance of dextran sulfate decreases in puromycin aminonucleoside-induced glomerulosclerosis: a puzzle observation.

Background: Puromycin aminonucleoside-induced nephrosis is characterized by increased renal excretion of plasma proteins. We employed this experimental model to study the urinary clearance of dextran sulfate.

Methods: The dextran sulfate eliminated by the urine was determined using a metachromatic assay.

Effects of mycophenolate mofetil and lisinopril on collagen deposition in unilateral ureteral obstruction in rats.

Background/aims: Unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) in rats has been used as a model of renal interstitial fibrosis, in which therapeutic trials can be of important clinical relevance. In this study, we investigated the effects of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor lisinopril (L), and the combination of both drugs, given daily for 14 days to UUO rats, on the renal fibrogenic process triggered by UUO.

Methods: Rats underwent surgical UUO, followed by treatment with daily doses of either MMF, lisinopril, or both, and were then sacrificed after 14 days.

Low-molecular-weight dextran sulfate prevents experimental urolithiasis in rats.

Background: Low-molecular-weight dextran sulfate was tested on an experimental model of urolithiasis induced in rats.

Methods: Male Wistar rats weighing 250 g had a 15-mg calcium oxalate stone surgically placed into the bladder. A group was sham operated, another group was treated by daily intraperitoneal injection of low-molecular-weight dextran sulfate and the other by daily intraperitoneal saline injection.

Correction of acidosis by hemodialysis: proposal of a correlation with urea kinetics.

Background/aims: We examined the effect of hemodialysis (HD) on acid-base status and its relation to urea kinetics in clinically stable renal HD patients. The purpose of this study was to design a practical approach to monitoring the correction of acidosis, as it can be assisted by routine parameters of adequacy.

Methods: Blood samples were drawn immediately before and after HD from 46 chronic renal patients to determine electrolytes, blood gases, serum albumin and blood urea nitrogen (BUN).