The glucose degradation product methylglyoxal induces immature angiogenesis in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis.

The accumulation of glucose degradation products (GDPs) can lead to tissue damage in patients with diabetes and those undergoing long-term peritoneal dialysis (PD). Angiogenesis is occasionally observed in the peritoneal membrane of patients undergoing PD, where it is associated with failure of ultrafiltration. To investigate the mechanism underlying the influence of angiogenesis on fluid absorption, we evaluated the effects of accumulation of the glucose degradation product methylglyoxal (MGO) on angiogenesis in vitro, and analyzed the association with angiogenesis in the peritoneal membrane.

Advanced glycation end products are associated with immature angiogenesis and peritoneal dysfunction in patients on peritoneal dialysis.

Background: Deposition of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) is frequently found in the peritoneum of patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD). Angiogenesis is also observed in the peritoneum. However, the clinical significance of AGEs and angiogenesis in the peritoneum is not fully understood.

Morphological characteristics in peritoneum in patients with neutral peritoneal dialysis solution.

Peritoneal dialysis solution (PDS) plays a role in functional and morphological damage to the peritoneum. This study aimed to clarify the effect of neutral PDS in preventing morphological changes by assessing peritoneal damage and comparing morphological alterations between PD patients treated with neutral PDS and acidic PDS. Sixty-one patients participated from seven hospitals.

Brain atrophy in peritoneal dialysis and CKD stages 3-5: a cross-sectional and longitudinal study.

Background: Brain atrophy has been reported in patients with end-stage renal disease receiving hemodialysis, although its mechanism is unknown. However, little is known regarding brain atrophy in patients receiving peritoneal dialysis (PD). Therefore, we examined brain volume and its annual change over 2 years in PD patients compared with patients with non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease (NDD-CKD).

Diabetes influences peritoneal morphology in uremic patients at the initiation of peritoneal dialysis.

Background: The peritoneum begins to undergo morphologic changes before the start of peritoneal dialysis (PD), particularly in diabetic patients. The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of diabetes on the peritoneum.

Methods: This study involved 17 patients who began receiving PD and had diabetes as an underlying disease (DM group), and 30 patients without diabetes who served as a control group (nonDM group).

Pseudorenal failure due to intraperitoneal bladder rupture after blunt trauma: usefulness of examining ascitic fluid sediment.

A 42-year-old man noted decreased urine output and visited our emergency department. He said that 3 days previously, he had gotten drunk and fallen down a set of stairs. Blood tests and abdominal contrast-enhanced computed tomography revealed no abnormalities.

The improvement of renal survival with steroid pulse therapy in IgA nephropathy.

Background: The benefits of steroid therapy in immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) have not been established.

Methods: The effect of steroids on kidney survival was retrospectively investigated in 702 patients with IgAN by multivariate analyses.

Results: There were 295 men and 407 women.

Acute renal infarction in a patient with left atrial myxoma.

A 24-year-old male first attended our hospital with acute onset of right flank pain radiating to the right lower quadrant of the abdomen. A contrast-enhanced computer tomography (CT) scan showed renal infarction, and he was admitted immediately for treatment. On admission, the right lower abdominal pain diminished gradually.

Dialysis-related hypotension as a cause of progressive frontal lobe atrophy in chronic hemodialysis patients: a 3-year prospective study.

Background/aim: Brain atrophy is known to develop more rapidly in hemodialysis (HD) patients than other individuals. The present study was designed to examine the role of HD-related hypotension in brain atrophy in patients on chronic HD.

Methods: By using magnetic resonance imaging, whole brain atrophy was assessed by the ventricular-brain ratio (VBR; ventricular area/whole brain area).

Controlled, prospective trial of steroid treatment in IgA nephropathy: a limitation of low-dose prednisolone therapy.

Background: No accepted therapy has been established for progressive immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy.

Methods: A prospective, randomized, controlled trial of low-dose prednisolone therapy was performed in patients with IgA nephropathy with moderate histological characteristics. Forty-three patients in the steroid group and 47 patients in the control group were included in the study.

Superimposition of post-streptococcal acute glomerulonephritis on the course of IgA nephropathy: predominance of Th1 type immune response.

A 23-year-old man was admitted with macrohematuria and systemic edema appearing after an acute upper respiratory tract infection. He had been diagnosed 6 years earlier with IgA nephropathy (IgA-N). On admission, hypertension, nephrotic syndrome and hypocomplementemia were evident together with a high titer of anti-streptokinase (ASK).

[A case of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis after renal transplantation].

We report a patient of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) in a recipient of renal transplantation. A 43-year-old man suffered from generalized convulsion and consciousness disturbance followed by coma on day 53 of after the transplantation. He was receiving several immunosuppressants, and an increase of serum antigen for cytomegalovirus was observed one day before the ictus.

A case of persistent acute allograft glomerulopathy with long-standing stable renal function.

Acute allograft glomerulopathy (AAG) characterized by hypercellularity, enlargement of endothelial cells, infiltration of glomeruli by mononuclear cells and webs of PAS-positive material has been reported as an unusual but distinct form of acute rejection in kidney transplant recipients. We present a case of persistent AAG proven by serial biopsies. The patient was 53 years old when she received kidney transplantation from her mother.

A case of fever of unknown origin with severe stomatitis in renal transplant recipient resulting in graft loss.

We present a case of fever of unknown origin and life-threatening stomatitis developed about 60 months after renal transplantation. He was 15 yr old at the transplantation. Bacterial, fungal, and viral infections were not evident.