Ammonia clearance with haemofiltration in adults with liver disease.

Background & Aims: Ammonia is recognized as a toxin central to complications of liver failure. Hyperammonaemia has important clinical consequences, but optimal means to reduce circulating levels are uncertain. In patients with liver disease, continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) with haemofiltration (HF) is often required to treat concurrent kidney injury, but its effects upon ammonia levels are poorly characterized.

Intra-individual variability of serum hepcidin-25 in haemodialysis patients using mass spectrometry and ELISA.

Background: Measurement of serum hepcidin levels may provide a useful alternative to the current methods of determining iron status in chronic haemodialysis (HD) patients. However, the biological variability of this pivotal regulator of iron homeostasis is unclear, and the impact of inflammation, dialysis clearance and iron therapy on hepcidin variability has not been established.

Methods: Two independent studies in chronic HD patients were conducted; serum hepcidin levels were measured at the start of dialysis sessions in 20 UK patients and in 43 Dutch patients by mass spectrometry (MS).

Serum hemojuvelin and hepcidin levels in chronic kidney disease.

Background: Hemojuvelin (HJV) has recently emerged as one of a number of significant regulators of iron homeostasis and hepcidin expression. Recently, an immunoassay has been developed to measure circulating levels of soluble HJV (sHJV). The aim of this study was to measure serum hepcidin and sHJV levels in a chronic kidney disease (CKD) population.

Remote intermittent ischemia before coronary artery bypass graft surgery: a strategy to reduce injury and inflammation?

Perioperative myocardial ischemia contributes to postoperative morbidity and mortality. Remote intermittent ischemia (RI) has been shown to benefit patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery by decreasing postoperative cardiac troponin levels. In addition, there is evidence that volatile anesthetics may provide myocardial protection.

Postprandial bone turnover is independent of calories above 250 kcal.

Background: The mechanisms causing bone turnover after food intake have not yet been elucidated. Several gut hormones are secreted in the postprandial phase, proportional to meal calorie content, and possibly one or more of these could influence bone turnover. The aim of this study was to investigate bone turnover in proportion to graded-calorie and fixed calcium containing meals.