Hemodynamic effects of carvedilol plus simvastatin in cirrhosis with severe portal hypertension and suboptimal response to β-blockers: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial.

Background And Aims: Carvedilol is a nonselective β-blocker (NSBB) with anti-α1-adrenergic activity, more effective than traditional NSBBs in reducing portal pressure hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG). However, 35%-45% of patients still have insufficient HVPG decrease. Statins ameliorate endothelial dysfunction, reduce hepatic vascular resistance, and have pleiotropic effects.

Interspecies transcriptomic comparison identifies a potential porto-sinusoidal vascular disorder rat model suitable for in vivo drug testing.

Background: Porto-sinusoidal vascular disorder (PSVD) involves a group of rare vascular liver diseases of unknown aetiology that may lead to the development of portal hypertension and its life-threatening complications. Its pathophysiology is not well understood, and animal models described to date do not fully recapitulate human disease.

Methods: We developed three different PSVD rat models by either immunosensitization (repetitive intraportal LPS or intramuscular spleen extract injections) or toxic (Selfox: combination of FOLFOX and a selenium-enriched diet) treatment and characterized them at haemodynamic, histological, biochemical and transcriptional levels.

Lack of endothelial autophagy does not impair liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy in mice.

Liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSEC) are key elements in regulating the liver response to injury and regeneration. While endothelial autophagy is essential to protect endothelial cells from injury-induced oxidative stress and fibrosis, its role in liver regeneration has not been elucidated. This study was intended to investigate the role of endothelial autophagy in liver regeneration in the context of partial hepatectomy (PHx).

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided transvascular needle biopsy of thoracic and abdominal lesions: a multicenter experience.

 Traditionally in the case of a vascular interposition, endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) has been contraindicated. A transvascular route (TV) is feasible and probably a safe alternative approach in selected patients, but data are scarce. The primary aim of this study was to analyze the diagnostic yield and safety of EUS-TV-FNA in thoracic and abdominal lesions.

Short-term hemodynamic effects of β-blockers influence survival of patients with decompensated cirrhosis.

Background & Aims: Whether the effect of β-blockers on arterial pressure and/or cardiac function may offset the benefit of reducing portal pressure in advanced cirrhosis is controversial. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the systemic and splanchnic hemodynamic effects of β-blockers in decompensated vs. compensated cirrhosis and to investigate the influence of systemic hemodynamic changes on survival times in decompensated cirrhosis.

Cystatin C estimated glomerular filtration rate to assess renal function in early stages of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

Background/aims: Height-adjusted total kidney volume (htTKV) is the best marker of disease progression in early autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) when renal function still remains normal. The usefulness of cystatin-C as a biomarker to assess renal function according to renal volume has not been studied in ADPKD patients.

Methods: Observational and cross-sectional study of 62 ADPKD patients.

Unfermented grape juice reduce genomic damage on patients undergoing hemodialysis.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients in dialysis (HD) are considered to be submitted to a continuous oxidative stress. This stress can cause damage on DNA and, consequently, contribute to the high levels of DNA damage observed in these patients. Due to the well-known role of polyphenols as antioxidant agents we proposed its use to reduce the levels of genotoxicity present in HD-CKD patients.

Anaerobic co-digestion of sewage sludge and sugar beet pulp lixiviation in batch reactors: effect of temperature.

The feasibility of anaerobic co-digestion of sewage sludge (SS) and sugar beet pulp lixiviation (SBPL) was assessed. Mesophilic and thermophilic batch assays of five different SS/SBPL ratios were used to investigate the effect of temperature, providing basic data on methane yield and reduction in total volatiles. Microbe concentrations (Eubacteria and methanogenic Archaea) were linked to traditional parameters, namely biogas production and removal of total volatile solids (TVS).

Consensus document on the management of renal disease in HIV-infected patients.

Objective: To update the 2010 recommendations on the evaluation and management of renal disease in HIV-infected patients.

Methods: This document was approved by a panel of experts from the AIDS Working Group (GESIDA) of the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), the Spanish Society of Nephrology (S.E.

Executive summary of the consensus document on the management of renal disease in HIV-infected patients.

The aim of this article is to update the 2010 recommendations on the evaluation and management of renal disease in HIV-infected patients. Renal function should be monitored in all HIV-infected patients. The basic renal work-up should include measurements of serum creatinine, estimated glomerular filtration rate by CKD-EPI, urine protein-to-creatinine ratio, and urinary sediment.

[Executive summary of the recommendations on the evaluation and management of renal disease in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients].

The aim of this article is to update the 2010 recommendations on the evaluation and management of renal disease in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. Renal function should be monitored in all HIV-infected patients. The basic renal work-up should include measurements of serum creatinine, estimated glomerular filtration rate by CKD-EPI, urine protein-to-creatinine ratio, and urinary sediment.

[Consensus document for the detection and management of chronic kidney disease].

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an important global health problem, involving to 10% of the Spanish population, promoting high morbidity and mortality for the patient and an elevate consumption of the total health resources for the National Health System. This is a summary of an executive consensus document of ten scientific societies involved in the care of the renal patient, that actualizes the consensus document published in 2007. The central extended document can be consulted in the web page of each society.

[Consensus document for the detection and management of chronic kidney disease].

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an important global health problem, involving to 10% of the Spanish population, promoting high morbidity and mortality for the patient and an elevate consumption of the total health resources for the National Health System. This is a summary of an executive consensus document of ten scientific societies involved in the care of the renal patient, that actualizes the consensus document published in 2007. The central extended document can be consulted in the web page of each society.

[Consensus document for the detection and management of chronic kidney disease].

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an important global health problem, involving to 10% of the Spanish population, promoting high morbidity and mortality for the patient and an elevate consumption of the total health resources for the National Health System. This is a summary of an executive consensus document of ten scientific societies involved in the care of the renal patient, that actualizes the consensus document published in 2007. The central extended document can be consulted in the web page of each society.

Consensus document for the detection and management of chronic kidney disease.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major public health problem that, in its different stages, may affect up to 10% of the Spanish population and results in high morbidity and mortality, as well as high consumption of National Health System resources. Ten scientific societies involved in the management of kidney patients agreed to update the 2007 CKD consensus document. The current version is an abridged edition of the detailed general document, which can be consulted on the webpages of each signatory society.

Mesophilic anaerobic co-digestion of sewage sludge and a lixiviation of sugar beet pulp: optimisation of the semi-continuous process.

This study examine the effect of an increased organic loading rate on the efficiency of the stirred tank reactor treating sewage sludge and sugar beet pellets and to report on its steady-state performance. The digester was subjected to a program of steady-state operation over a range of hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of 30 to 6 days and organic loading rates (OLRs) of up to 1.7 kgCOD/m(3)d to evaluate its treatment capacity.

[Association of nocturnal penile rigidity with testosterone, metabolic syndrome, and other variables: a prospective cross-sectional pilot study].

Introduction: The aim was to study whether nocturnal penile rigidity (NPTR) correlates with metabolic syndrome (MetS) and testosterone in men consulting for erectile dysfunction (ED).

Material And Methods: 234 men were included in a prospective, cross-sectional pilot study. Serum total and bioavailable testosterone and other biochemical constituents were measured and compared with NPTR.

[Tables estimating glomerular filtration rate from plasma creatinine].

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and its related complications have become an important health and social problem. Very expensive resources are required in end-stage renal disease, and both complications of CKD as well as the important associated cardiovascular risk demand for interventions long before renal substitution therapies are needed. Thus, early diagnosis of CKD is currently considered of paramount importance, and it is based essentially upon the estimation of the glomerular filtration rate by formulae such as the abbreviated equation of the MDRD study.

Factors involved in baseline hyperhomocysteinemia in renal transplantation.

Hyperhomocysteinemia (hyperHcy) is one cardiovascular risk. The objective of this study was to establish the prevalence demographic, and clinical and analytical factors related to hyperhomocysteinemia among renal transplant patients. The mean Hcy level was 17.

Determining factors of the response to hyperhomocysteinemia treatment in renal transplant patients.

Hyperhomocysteinemia (hyperHcy) is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The benefits of lowering homocysteinemia (Hcy) in renal transplant recipients through vitamin treatment are not clearly understood. The objective of this study was to establish the demographic, renal, Hcy metabolism, and microinflammation factors that determined the response to folic acid and vitamin B complex treatment in stable patients with renal transplants and hyperHcy.

Prognostic parameters other than Gleason score for the daily evaluation of prostate cancer in needle biopsy.

Objective: To evaluate in prostate needle biopsies the usefulness and the efficacy of not time-consuming morphologic parameters in order to predict whether prostate cancer is organ-confined or it is not, that could contribute additional information to pre-surgical serum PSA and Gleason score, both of them parameters already accepted as clinically significant.

Methods: Three hundred and two consecutive patients were evaluated, of whom a diagnostic needle biopsy and the radical prostatectomy specimen with no pre-surgical hormone therapy were available. Bilateral or unilateral extension, number of positive cores, percentage of positive cores, intraprostatic perineural invasion (IPNI) and the presence of high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN) in any of the biopsy cores were evaluated in the needle biopsy.

Assessment of cyclosporine therapeutic monitoring with C2 concentrations in stable renal allograft recipients.

The optimal long-term C2 target to minimize the risk of chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN) has not yet been established in a prospective study. Furthermore, it is not known whether the target is the same in patients who also receive mycophenolate mofetil (MMF). We determined the 2-hour postdose concentration (C2) in a cohort of 65 maintenance renal transplant patients.

Pharmacological properties of quinoxaline derivatives as a new class of 5-HT3 receptor antagonists.

The pharmacological profile of five quinoxaline derivatives, a new class of 5HT3 receptor antagonists, is reported in the present study. All of the new compounds antagonized the effect of the selective 5-HT3 receptor agonist 2-methyl-5-HT in the isolated longitudinal muscle-myenteric plexus preparation (LMMP) of guinea-pig ileum. One of them, VC-605) was approximately three orders of magnitude more potent than ondansetron.