Publications by authors named "Michelle M Nash"

Background: Long-term kidney transplant survival at the population level is consistently favorable, but this survival varies widely at an individual level due to both recipient and donor factors. The distinct contribution of recipient and donor factors to individual post kidney transplant outcome remains unclear. Comparing outcomes in deceased donor (DD) recipients with potential but non-actualized living donors (DD1) to those recipients with actualized living donors (LD), and to DD recipients without potential living donors (DD0) may provide transplant candidates with more information about their own post-transplant prognosis.

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Patients on dialysis have impaired cardiac function, in part due to increased fluid volume and ventricular stress. Restored kidney function through transplantation reduces left ventricular volume in both systole and diastole. We previously reported that the decrease in NT-proB-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) was associated with a decrease in adiponectin.

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Worsening renal function in chronic kidney disease correlates with worsening right ventricular (RV) systolic function. We evaluated the association between kidney transplantation (KT) and RV structure and systolic function, and the relationships between RV and left ventricular (LV) changes, blood pressure, and specific cardiac biomarkers, in patients with end-stage kidney disease using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR). In this prospective, multi-centre, cohort study, 39 adult patients on dialysis receiving KT and 42 patients eligible for, but not yet receiving KT, were recruited.

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Background: Increased left atrial (LA) size predicts cardiovascular events in patients with end-stage kidney disease. There is a paucity of data on LA changes after kidney transplantation (KT). Accordingly, we used cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) to evaluate LA remodeling after KT, and examined its relationship with left ventricular (LV) measurements, blood pressure and cardiac biomarkers.

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Background: Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) is markedly increased in end-stage kidney disease and has been related to increased mortality in patients on dialysis. We hypothesized that kidney transplantation would decrease both GDF15 and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and that GDF-15 decrease relates to post-kidney transplantation allograft function.

Methods: End-stage kidney disease patients on dialysis awaiting a living donor kidney transplantation (n = 39), and those expected to be on the deceased donor waitlist for at least 12 months (n = 43) were enrolled at three transplant centers.

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Background: Glucose metabolism links closely to cholesterol metabolism. Posttransplant diabetes mellitus (PTDM) adversely affects posttransplant outcomes, but its risk factors in relation to cholesterol metabolism have not been fully delineated. The apolipoprotein B/A1 (Apo B/A1) ratio, which is associated with insulin resistance, has not been evaluated in kidney transplant recipients as a risk factor for PTDM.

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Background: Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) is the drug of choice for anti-Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PcP) prophylaxis in kidney transplant recipients (KTR). Post-transplant management balances preventing PcP with managing TMP-SMX-related adverse effects. TMP-SMX dose reduction addresses adverse effects but its implications to incident PcP are unclear.

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Article Synopsis
  • Kugelberg-Welander (K-W) syndrome is a spinal muscular atrophy that primarily affects hip-girdle muscles, potentially leading to wheelchair dependence and is linked with kidney issues such as proteinuria.
  • A 45-year-old man with K-W syndrome showed signs of kidney dysfunction, including proteinuria and increased creatinine levels, necessitating a kidney biopsy that revealed minimal change disease (MCD).
  • Management included conservative treatments focused on dietary adjustments and medications, with the patient's kidney function improving initially but ultimately remaining poor despite prolonged care.
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BACKGROUND Preventing major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) after kidney transplantation motivates pre-transplant cardiac evaluation that includes two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). The relationship of relative wall thickness (RWT) to left ventricular mass index (LVMI) in predicting post-transplant MACE is unclear. MATERIAL AND METHODS In this multi-ethnic Canadian single-center cohort study, we identified 1063 adults undergoing pre-transplant TTE within 1 year pre-transplant and with minimum 6 months of post-kidney transplant follow-up for MACE, defined as a composite of coronary revascularization, myocardial infarction, stroke, and cardiac death.

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Background: Cardiovascular disease is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and kidney transplant (KT) patients. Compared with left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (LVEF), LV strain has emerged as an important marker of LV function as it is less load dependent. We sought to evaluate changes in LV strain using cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) in ESRD patients who received KT, to determine whether KT may improve LV function.

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Background: Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging accurately and precisely measures left ventricular (LV) mass and function. Identifying mechanisms by which LV mass change and functional improvement occur in some end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients may help to appropriately target kidney transplant (KT) recipients for further investigation and intervention. The concentration of serum adiponectin, a cardiovascular biomarker, increases in cardiac failure, its production being enhanced by B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), and both serum adiponectin and BNP concentrations decline posttransplantation.

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Background: Ensuring reliable gastrointestinal drug absorption of orally administered immunosuppressive medications posttransplant is critical to ensuring graft survival.

Methods: A 66-year-old man of East Asian origin with a previous total gastrectomy was evaluated for living donor kidney transplantation. Pretransplant pharmacokinetic testing was performed to determine the most appropriate posttransplant medication strategy.

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Transplant tourism, a form of transplant commercialization, has resulted in serious short-term adverse outcomes that explain reduced short-term kidney allograft survival. However, the nature of longer-term outcomes in commercial kidney transplant recipients is less clear. To study this further, we identified 69 Canadian commercial transplant recipients of 72 kidney allografts transplanted during 1998 to 2013 who reported to our transplant center for follow-up care.

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Metabolic syndrome (MetS) associates with cardiovascular risk post-kidney transplantation, but its ambiguity impairs understanding of its diagnostic utility relative to components. We compared five MetS definitions and the predictive value of constituent components of significant definitions for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in a cohort of 1182 kidney transplant recipients. MetS definitions were adjusted for noncomponent traditional Framingham risk factors and relevant transplant-related variables.

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BACKGROUND: Limited comparative data are available on the outcomes between extended-release and standard-release tacrolimus when used de novo in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs). METHODS: We identified KTRs transplanted at our institution during 2009-10 routinely prescribed extended-release tacrolimus and compared them with those transplanted during 2008-09 prescribed standard-release tacrolimus. Graft function (eGFR by MDRD-7 equation) at 12 months post-transplant (primary outcome); new-onset diabetes and other cardiovascular risk factors, BK viremia incidence, acute rejection, and graft survival to 12 months (secondary outcomes) were compared by intent-to-treat analysis.

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South Asian renal transplant recipients have a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease compared with Caucasian renal transplant recipients. We carried out a study to determine whether paraoxonase 1, a novel biomarker for cardiovascular risk, was decreased in South Asian compared with Caucasian renal transplant recipients. Subjects were matched two to one on the basis of age and sex for a total of 129 subjects.

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Background: Ethnicity is an important determinant of post-renal transplant outcomes. Limited data are available on cardiovascular risk differences in kidney transplant recipients (KTR) based on ethnicity.

Methods: A group of 129 clinically stable age-matched KTR [43 South Asian (SA), 86 Caucasian]) were assessed for plasma total and high-molecular-weight (HMW) adiponectin, cystatin C, apolipoproteins A1 and B, C-reactive protein, uric acid, urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and transplant-specific plus traditional Framingham risk factors.

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Background: Framingham Risk Score (FRS) is an insufficient cardiovascular event predictor in unselected kidney transplant recipients. Its role in different risk subgroups and the value of adding novel risk factor candidates to FRS is unknown.

Methods: We reviewed patients who underwent transplantation from 1998 to 2008 with minimum 3 months graft function, determining FRS-ascertained 10-year risk at 3 months along with relevant clinical and laboratory information.

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Background And Objectives: South Asians (SAs) comprise 25% of all Canadian visible minorities. SAs constitute a group at high risk for cardiovascular disease in the general population, but the risk in SA kidney transplant recipients has never been studied.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: In a cohort study of 864 kidney recipients transplanted from 1998 to 2007 and followed to June 2009, we identified risk factors including ethnicity associated with major cardiac events (MACEs, a composite of nonfatal myocardial infarction, coronary intervention, and cardiac death) within and beyond 3 months after transplant.

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Background: Many Canadian renal transplant recipients receive either cyclosporine or tacrolimus as a long-term immunosuppressive agent. We investigated the effect of these drugs on quality of life (QoL) in Canadian transplant recipients.

Methods: We included adult single-organ recipients undergoing a transplant between July 1997 and March 2005, whose graft function was =18 months, recruited across 13 Canadian sites including 5 transplant centers (TCs) and 8 satellite centers (SCs).

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Summary Small blood pressure (BP) elevations may occur post kidney donation. This prospective study determined 24-h ambulatory BP (ABP) and other cardiovascular risk factor changes in 51 living donors over 12 months postdonation. Donors also provided 24-h urine collections for monitoring protein and creatinine clearance, 75 g oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT), and fasting lipids.

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Hyperuricemia is common after kidney transplantation. Although its risk factors are well established, its relation to inflammation, progressive renal dysfunction, and cardiovascular events is unknown. In this study, 405 stable renal transplant recipients with > or = 3 uric acid (UA) and C-reactive protein measurements from January 2005 to April 2008 were identified to determine the relations between UA and C-reactive protein and between UA and the rate of decrease in the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR; using the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease equation) and cardiovascular events.

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The effect of unilateral nephrectomy on the cardiovascular risk profile of living kidney donors has not been prospectively studied. We performed an observational cohort study of 58 living donors to 6 months postdonation for changes in 24-hr ambulatory blood pressure profiles, renal function, urine protein excretion, body mass index, glucose tolerance, and fasting lipid profiles. The 24-hr systolic blood pressure average and night-day ratio were unchanged from pre- to postdonation (118.

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Background: There are few data directly comparing the effects of two-hour postingestion monitored cyclosporine (C2-CsA) vs. trough-monitored tacrolimus (C0-Tac) on renal function and cardiovascular risk factors.

Methods: We studied 378 (202 C2-CsA vs.

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Background: The role of dietary cations in hypertension has been evaluated in the general population and selected subgroups, but its contribution to blood pressure (BP) elevations in patients with functional renal allografts has not been critically examined.

Methods: After counseling based on Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) guidelines, we measured timed 24-h urine excretion rates of sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium as a surrogate for their dietary intake, in 244 stable adult single-organ renal transplant recipients, correlating these with averaged blinded clinic-measured BP values. Multiple linear regression analysis adjusting for factors affecting BP in transplant recipients was performed.

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