A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Diagnostic Performance of BRAF V600E Immunohistochemistry in Thyroid Histopathology.

Immunohistochemistry (IHC) in evaluating thyroid surgical specimens may facilitate diagnostic and prognostic evaluation, with potential therapeutic implications. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis examining the analytic validity of IHC in detecting BRAFV600E mutations in thyroid cancer (primary or metastatic). We screened citations from three electronic databases (until December 20, 2018), supplemented by a hand search of authors' files and cross-references of reviews.

Endothelin Receptor Antagonists: New Hope for Renal Protection?

Endothelin receptor antagonists (ERAs) have the potential to be a new paradigm in the treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD). ERAs inhibit the effects of endothelin-1 (ET-1), which is known to promote CKD by causing renal cellular injury, proteinuria, inflammation, fibrosis, and hypertrophy. ERAs have been extensively studied preclinically in models of CKD and now in a large clinical trial to determine their effect on slowing the progression of CKD.