Exposure of pregnant rats to cigarette-smoke condensate causes glomerular abnormalities in offspring.

Background: Higher blood pressure and albuminuria are found in offspring of mothers who smoke during pregnancy. Whether or not kidney development is affected by maternal smoking is unknown.

Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allocated to twice-daily cigarette smoke and nicotine condensate (1 mg/kg) or vehicle at day 10 of pregnancy until delivery.

[The nail-patella syndrome: rare genetically determined cause of proteinuria].

Nail-patella syndrome (NPS) is rare genetic disorder with autosomal mode of inheritance resulting from mutations in the LMX1B gene mapped on the long arm of chromosome 9 (9q34), encoding transcription factor, also named LMX1B. This syndrome is characterized by a skeletal malformations, such as dysplasia of the knees (with typical patellar hypoplasia or aplasia), elbows and nails as well as characteristic protuberaces of ilium named ,,iliac homes". Chronic nephropathy and nails dysplasia are most common extraosseal signs of NPS.

[Prevalence of anemia, calcium-phosphorus abnormalities and metabolic acidosis in different stages of chronic renal failure].

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with the reduction of haemoglobin concentration and a variety of biochemical abnormalities including changes in serum concentration of sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphate, bicarbonate, and hydrogen ions. However, data concerning epidemiology of these abnormalities are rare and incomplete, especially among subjects with mild to moderate CKD.

Patients And Methods: Patients with a serum creatinine concentration > 110 micromol/l hospitalized in the Department of Nephrology, Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases Medical University of Silesia from 1998 to 2002 were analyzed.

[Causes of chronic renal failure and clinical status of patients during initiation of hemodialysis therapy in upper Silesian region].

Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to evaluate the causes of chronic renal failure and clinical status of patients during the onset of hemodialysis therapy in Upper Silesian region. Medical documentation and questionnaires of 175 patients initiating hemodialysis therapy from November 1999 to October 2000 were analyzed. Concentrations of creatinine, calcium, phosphorus in serum, hemoglobin in blood, concomitance of hypertension, frequency of uremic symptoms, HBV and HCV infections, and occurrence of mature arterio-venous fistula before the first hemodialysis were assessed.