[Experimental pancreatic islet transplant into the genito-urinary tract simultaneous to kidney transplant].

Introduction And Objectives: Simultaneous kidney and pancreas transplant is a good treatment for both renal and pancreas insufficiency. Experimental apply of genitourinary tract for pancreas implantation is reported in this work.

Material And Method: Twenty animals aged as average 5.

Nephrotic syndrome resulting from focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in a peripheral blood stem cell transplant patient.

We describe the case of a male patient who was diagnosed with acute monoblastic leukemia and received a peripheral stem cell transplantation (PSCT) with peripheral blood hematopoietic progenitors. Because he was in clinical remission with no evidence of chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), immunosuppression was withdrawn, and he developed nephrotic syndrome (NS) months later. A kidney biopsy showed focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) as part of the GVHD.

Therapeutic effect of all-trans-retinoic acid (at-RA) on an autoimmune nephritis experimental model: role of the VLA-4 integrin.

Background: Mercuric chloride (HgCl2) induces an autoimmune nephritis in the Brown Norway (BN) rats characterized by anti-glomerular basement membrane antibodies (anti-GBM Ab) deposition, proteinuria and a severe interstitial nephritis, all evident at day 13 of the disease. We assessed the effects of all-trans retinoic acid (at-RA) in this experimental model. At-RA is a vitamin A metabolite which has shown beneficial effects on several nephropathies, even though no clear targets for at-RA were provided.

Pancreas islet transplantation in the genitourinary tract associated with renal transplantation: an experimental study.

Conceptually, pancreas islet transplantation (PIT) associated with renal transplantation (RT) should resolve not only chronic renal failure but also diabetes. Although the most frequently used site for PIT is the portal vein, genitourinary locations could be technically feasible during RT. Seventeen pigs (age 3 to 4 months; mean weight 34.

Requirements for proximal tubule epithelial cell detachment in response to ischemia: role of oxidative stress.

Sublethal renal ischemia induces tubular epithelium damage and kidney dysfunction. Using NRK-52E rat proximal tubular epithelial cells, we have established an in vitro model, which includes oxygen and nutrients deprivation, to study the proximal epithelial cell response to ischemia. By means of this system, we demonstrate that confluent NRK-52E cells lose monolayer integrity and detach from collagen IV due to: (i) actin cytoskeleton reorganization; (ii) Rac1 and RhoA activity alterations; (iii) Adherens junctions (AJ) and Tight junctions (TJ) disruption, involving redistribution but not degradation of E-cadherin, beta-catenin and ZO-1; (iv) focal adhesion complexes (FAC) disassembly, entangled by mislocalization of paxillin and FAK dephosphorylation.

Recurrent acute postinfectious glomerulonephritis.

Recurrent acute postinfectious glomerulonephritis is infrequent in childhood and exceptional in adults. The factors that determine recurrence are poorly understood. Selective IgA deficiency is characterized by an increased incidence of gastrointestinal and respiratory infections.

Chemokine receptor Ccr2 deficiency reduces renal disease and prolongs survival in MRL/lpr lupus-prone mice.

MRL/MpJ-Fas(lpr)/J (MRL/lpr) mice represent a well-established mouse model of human systemic lupus erythematosus. MRL/lpr mice homozygous for the spontaneous lymphoproliferation mutation (lpr) are characterized by systemic autoimmunity, massive lymphadenopathy associated with proliferation of aberrant T cells, splenomegaly, hypergammaglobulinemia, arthritis, and fatal immune complex-mediated glomerulonephritis. It was reported previously that steady-state mRNA levels for the chemokine (C-C motif) receptor 2 (Ccr2) continuously increase in kidneys of MRL/lpr mice.

[Tubulointerstitial nephritis associated with treatment with selective Cox-2 inhibitors, celecoxib and rofecoxib].

The nephrotoxic effect of nonselective nonsteroidal anti-inflamatory drugs (NSAIDS) has been widely described. The main benefit of the Cox-2 inhibitors in relation to the NSAIDS is the production of a very similar analgesic effect, but with fewer gastrointestinal side effects. However, their effects on renal function are little known as yet and their long-term safety is still pending definition.

Renal ischemia/reperfusion injury: functional tissue preservation by anti-activated {beta}1 integrin therapy.

Renal ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) is an important cause of acute renal failure. Cellular and molecular responses of the kidney to IRI are complex and not fully understood. beta1 integrins localize to the basal surface of tubular epithelium interacting with extracellular matrix components of the basal membrane, including collagen IV.

Retinoic acid treatment protects MRL/lpr lupus mice from the development of glomerular disease.

Background: Retinoic acid (tRA) is an active metabolite of vitamin A with potent anti-inflammatory properties. We analyzed the effects of tRA on the development of lupus nephritis in MRL/lpr mice.

Methods: MRL/lpr mice received chow supplemented with vehicle or tRA (daily 10 mg/kg) from 8 to 14 weeks until their sacrifice.

VLA-4 integrin concentrates at the peripheral supramolecular activation complex of the immune synapse and drives T helper 1 responses.

The integrin alpha 4 beta 1 (VLA-4) not only mediates the adhesion and transendothelial migration of leukocytes, but also provides costimulatory signals that contribute to the activation of T lymphocytes. However, the behavior of alpha 4 beta 1 during the formation of the immune synapse is currently unknown. Here, we show that alpha 4 beta 1 is recruited to both human and murine antigen-dependent immune synapses, when the antigen-presenting cell is a B lymphocyte or a dendritic cell, colocalizing with LFA-1 at the peripheral supramolecular activation complex.

Late onset of treatment with a chemokine receptor CCR1 antagonist prevents progression of lupus nephritis in MRL-Fas(lpr) mice.

Slowly progressive renal injury is the major cause for ESRD. The model of progressive immune complex glomerulonephritis in autoimmune MRL(lpr/lpr) mice was used to evaluate whether chemokine receptor CCR1 blockade late in the disease course can affect progression to renal failure. Mice were treated with subcutaneous injections of either vehicle or BX471, a nonpeptide CCR1 antagonist, three times a day from week 20 to 24 of age [corrected].

Spanish experience with cyclosporine.

Our experience with cyclosporine (CsA) in de novo renal transplantation (RT) may be systematized in four consecutive periods. From February 1986 to December 1989, patient survival was higher among 128 consecutive CsA-prednisone-treated cadaver allograft recipients than in previous patients on azathioprine. One-year graft survival was significantly higher in CsA patients, a difference that was thereafter progressively reduced: at 10 years graft survivals were 50% versus 45%, and at 15 years 37% versus 35%, respectively.

Angiotensin inhibition reduces glomerular damage and renal chemokine expression in MRL/lpr mice.

Beneficial effects of angiotensin II inhibition during inflammatory renal disease may involve both hemodynamic and nonhemodynamic mechanisms. To analyze whether angiotensin II inhibition has protective effects on lupus-like, autoimmune-mediated renal damage in MRL/lpr mice, four groups of mice were treated orally for 6 weeks with: 1) vehicle, 2) enalapril (3.0 mg/kg per day), 3) candesartan cilexetil (5.

Retinoids as a potential treatment for experimental puromycin-induced nephrosis.

1 Puromycin aminonucleoside (PAN)-induced nephrosis is a model of human minimal change disease. In rats, PAN induces nephrotic-range proteinuria, renal epithelial cell (podocyte) damage, infiltration of mononuclear leukocytes, and apoptosis of several renal cell types. 2 Retinoic acid (RA) modulates a wide range of biological processes, such as inflammation and apoptosis.

[Minimal-change disease with mesangial IgA deposits associated with Sjogren syndrome].

Sjögren's syndrome may be accompanied by a dysregulation of IgA system implying the presence of increased serum polymeric IgA or circulating immune complexes and their consequent deposition within the kidney. In this context IgA nephropathy may only represent one of the complications brought by IgA deposition. Glomerular involvement and primary Sjögren's syndrome has been described previously only in isolated case reports, membranous nephropathy and membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis have been reported.

[Acute interstitial nephritis caused by clozapine].

We are reporting a case of a 69 years old man developed acute renal failure due to interstitial nephritis during treatment with the drug clozapine, and that improve after to discontinuation of this drug. The clozapine is a new antipsychotic drug that may produce severes adverses reactions, like medullary toxicity. Recently 10 cases of clozapine-induced AIN have been reported.

Effects of mycophenolate mofetil in mercury-induced autoimmune nephritis.

Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) is a new immunosuppressive drug whose active metabolite, mycophenolic acid (MPA), blocks the action of inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase, resulting in the inhibition of the novo purine synthesis. Thus, MPA has an antiproliferative effect on T and B lymphocytes and also inhibits the glycosylation of cell surface adhesion proteins involved in cell-cell contact and in the recruitment of circulating leukocytes to sites of tissue damage and inflammation. In this study, the effect of MMF in the mercury model of nephritis was examined.

Outcome of cadaveric renal transplant patients treated for 10 years with cyclosporine: is chronic allograft nephropathy the major cause of late graft loss?

Background: The introduction of cyclosporine (CsA) has improved the short-term outcome of renal transplantation, but its effect on the long-term survival is not well known.

Methods: We analyzed 128 cadaveric first renal transplant recipients with CsA and prednisone as basal immunosuppression followed for at least 10 years, and we have compared them with a group of 185 historical patients treated with azathioprine (Aza) and prednisone.

Results: The 1-year graft survival was 83% in the CsA-treated patients and 68% in the Aza-treated patients (P<0.

Chemokine expression precedes inflammatory cell infiltration and chemokine receptor and cytokine expression during the initiation of murine lupus nephritis.

Lupus nephritis is characterized by immune complex deposition and inflammatory cell infiltration. Therefore, the initiation and progression of lupus nephritis in MRL/MpJ Fas(lpr/lpr) (MRL/lpr) mice were investigated, with a focus on the expression of several chemokines and chemokine receptors. Mice were monitored for proteinuria from 6 to 20 wk of age, and kidneys were examined every 2 wk by light microscopy, electron microscopy, and immunohistologic analyses.