Modulation of the acute defence reaction by eplerenone prevents cardiac disease progression in viral myocarditis.

Aims: Left ventricular (LV) dysfunction in viral myocarditis is attributed to myocardial inflammation and fibrosis, inducing acute and long-time cardiac damage. Interventions are not established. On the basis of the link between inflammation, fibrosis, aldosterone, and extracellular matrix regulation, we aimed to investigate the effect of an early intervention with the mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (MRA) eplerenone on cardiac remodelling in a murine model of persistent coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3)-induced myocarditis.

Urinary Calprotectin Differentiates Between Prerenal and Intrinsic Acute Renal Allograft Failure.

Background: Urinary calprotectin has recently been identified as a promising biomarker for the differentiation between prerenal and intrinsic acute kidney injury (AKI) in the nontransplant population. The present study investigates whether calprotectin is able to differentiate between these 2 entities in transplant recipients as well.

Methods: Urinary calprotectin was assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 328 subjects including 125 cases of intrinsic acute allograft failure, 27 prerenal graft failures, 118 patients with stable graft function, and 58 healthy controls.

Urinary calprotectin and posttransplant renal allograft injury.

Objective: Current methods do not predict the acute renal allograft injury immediately after kidney transplantation. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of urinary calprotectin for predicting immediate posttransplant allograft injury.

Methods: In a multicenter, prospective-cohort study of 144 incipient renal transplant recipients, we postoperatively measured urinary calprotectin using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) after 4 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months.

Aerobic exercise reduces blood pressure in resistant hypertension.

Regular physical exercise is broadly recommended by current European and American hypertension guidelines. It remains elusive, however, whether exercise leads to a reduction of blood pressure in resistant hypertension as well. The present randomized controlled trial examines the cardiovascular effects of aerobic exercise on resistant hypertension.

Noninvasive evaluation of renal allograft fibrosis by transient elastography--a pilot study.

Chronic allograft injury (CAI) is the most common cause of graft failure after the first year of transplantation. To date, only protocol biopsies can reveal subclinical disease. Transient elastography (TE) is a novel noninvasive technique that has demonstrated high reliability in the assessment of liver fibrosis.

Predictors of postoperative memory function after left anterior temporal lobectomy.

Patients who undergo left anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) for intractable epilepsy are at risk of postoperative memory decline. This study attempts to identify the best predictors of memory after ATL using preoperative tests. Thirty-two consecutive patients who underwent left ATL with preoperative and postoperative neuropsychological testing were retrospectively identified.