Attenuation of the activated mammalian target of rapamycin pathway might be associated with renal function reserve by a low-protein diet in the rat remnant kidney model.

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), a regulator of cellular protein synthesis and cell growth, plays an important role in the progression of renal hypertrophy and renal dysfunction in experimental chronic kidney disease models. Because the mTOR activity is regulated by nutrients including amino acids, we tested the hypothesis that the renoprotective effect of a low-protein diet (LPD) might be associated with the attenuation of the renal mTOR pathway. In this study, 5/6 nephrectomized rats were fed an LPD or a normal protein diet (NPD), and a number of rats that were fed an NPD received rapamycin (1.

Association of serum total testosterone concentration with skeletal muscle mass in men under hemodialysis.

Purpose: Although skeletal muscle wasting can occur in chronic kidney diseases, its relationship with the serum testosterone concentration remains uncertain. This study investigates the relationship between serum testosterone and skeletal muscle mass in men under hemodialysis (HD).

Methods: Sixty men aged between 41 and 89 years undergoing HD for 15.

Relaxin ameliorates salt-sensitive hypertension and renal fibrosis.

Background: Although relaxin (RLX) has potent vasodilatory and anti-fibrotic properties, there is no information on its effects on salt-sensitive hypertension.

Methods: We investigated the effects of short-term treatment with RLX on blood pressure (BP) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) protein in the kidneys of male Dahl salt-sensitive (DS) and Dahl salt-resistant (DR) rats after 1 week consumption of an 8% NaCl diet. We also evaluated the inhibitory effects of each specific NOS inhibitor on BP during 1-week RLX treatment under high-salt diet.

FOXO3a mediates signaling crosstalk that coordinates ubiquitin and atrogin-1/MAFbx expression during glucocorticoid-induced skeletal muscle atrophy.

Muscle atrophy is a consequence of chronic diseases (e.g., diabetes) and glucocorticoid-induced insulin resistance that results from enhanced activity of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway.

Coenzyme Q10 administration suppresses both oxidative and antioxidative markers in hemodialysis patients.

Background: Increased oxidative stress is associated with various complications in hemodialysis (HD) patients.

Methods: We examined the effect of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) administration on the plasma oxidative products and antioxidant capacity in 36 HD patients for 6 months.

Results: The advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP), malondialdehyde and the percentage of ubiquinone in total CoQ10 were significantly higher in HD patients than in healthy subjects before administration (0 month).

Association of age with muscle mass, fat mass and fat distribution in non-diabetic haemodialysis patients.

Background: In the general population, aging induces changes in body composition, such as sarcopenia or a relative increase in visceral fat, but it remains unclear if similar changes occur in elderly haemodialysis (HD) patients.

Methods: Age-related changes in muscle and fat mass and fat distribution in the thigh and abdomen were cross-sectionally investigated in Japanese HD patients. The thigh muscle area (TMA), thigh intermuscular fat area (IMFA), thigh subcutaneous fat area (TSFA), abdominal muscle area (AMA), abdominal visceral fat area (AVFA) and abdominal subcutaneous fat area (ASFA) were measured by computed tomography in 134 non-diabetic patients between 21 and 82 years on HD.

Pro-oxidative effect of alpha-tocopherol in the oxidation of LDL isolated from co-antioxidant-depleted non-diabetic hemodialysis patients.

The association between the antioxidants in LDL and the oxidizability of LDL assessed by the oxidation lag time during copper ion-catalyzed oxidation was investigated in 69 non-diabetic hemodialysis patients and 23 healthy volunteers. The concentrations of co-antioxidants, including ubiquinol-10, lycopene and beta-carotene, in LDL were significantly lower in the hemodialysis patients than in the healthy volunteers, while there was no difference in the alpha-tocopherol concentration between the groups. The lag time showed a significantly positive correlation with the alpha-tocopherol level (r = 0.

Optimum dietary protein requirement in nondiabetic maintenance hemodialysis patients.

Background: There is controversy about whether the dietary protein requirement of 1.2 g/kg/d for hemodialysis (HD) patients, in the nutritional guidelines recommended by the National Kidney Foundation-Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (NKF-KDOQI), is reasonable.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 129 stable HD patients without diabetes (84 men, 45 women) to investigate the association between the protein equivalent of nitrogen appearance normalized by ideal body weight (nPNAibw), an index of protein intake, and skeletal muscle mass or other metabolic consequences.

Association between inflammatory mediators and muscle mass in long-term hemodialysis patients.

Background: Muscle wasting is highly prevalent in long-term hemodialysis (HD) patients. Although inflammatory indices have been associated with malnutrition in these patients, the role of inflammation in muscle wasting has not yet been determined.

Methods: The relationship between the inflammatory mediators C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) and the muscle mass indices thigh muscle area (TMA), measured by computed tomography, and creatinine (Cr) production, estimated by the Cr kinetic model (Cr-CKM), were investigated in 188 HD patients.

Muscle mass index in haemodialysis patients: a comparison of indices obtained by routine clinical examinations.

Background: Measurement of muscle mass is useful for evaluating protein nutritional status. Various methods for estimating muscle mass in haemodialysis patients have recently been developed.

Methods: The validity of the estimate of creatinine production calculated with the creatinine kinetic model (CKM) was examined in 46 haemodialysis patients by comparing it with the actual creatinine production, this being determined from the sum of creatinine appearing in the dialysate and the estimated metabolic degradation.