Assessment of Tumor Markers in Renal Transplant Recipients.

Background/aim: Malignant tumors are diagnosed using various methods, including diagnostic imaging methods. The measurement of tumor markers is commonly used because of its noninvasiveness and convenience. Furthermore, it is known that the excretion and metabolism of some tumor markers are affected by impaired renal function.

[The association between vitamin D/calcium deficiency and cardiovascular events.].

According to some case reports, extreme hypocalcemia induced by vitamin D and calcium deficiency leads to heart failure. This rare clinical entity "Hypocalcemic cardiomyopathy" is also reported in elderly patients as well as infants. In patients with chronic kidney disease and heart failure, hypocalcemia is reported to predict worse outcome.

Red cell distribution width and renal outcome in patients with non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease.

Higher red cell distribution width (RDW) has been reported to predict mortality among patients with various diseases, including chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, whether RDW is associated with renal outcome remains unclear. We investigated the relationship between RDW and renal outcome in patients with non-dialysis-dependent CKD (NDD-CKD).

Proteinuria-associated renal magnesium wasting leads to hypomagnesemia: a common electrolyte abnormality in chronic kidney disease.

Background: Hypomagnesemia (Hypo-Mg) predicts mortality and chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression. However, in CKD, its prevalence, kidney-intrinsic risk factors, and the effectiveness of oral magnesium (Mg) therapy on serum Mg levels is uncertain.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study enrolling pre-dialysis outpatients with CKD, the prevalence of electrolyte abnormalities (Mg, sodium, potassium, calcium and phosphorus) was compared.

Cardiac hypertrophy elevates serum levels of fibroblast growth factor 23.

Several experimental studies have shown that fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) induces left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). However, the opposite directional relationship, namely a potential effect of LVH on FGF23, remains uncertain. Here we evaluated the effects of LVH on FGF23 using cardiomyocyte-specific calcineurin A transgenic mice.

Protein carbamylation exacerbates vascular calcification.

Protein carbamylation is a posttranslational modification that can occur non-enzymatically in the presence of high concentrations of urea. Although carbamylation is recognized as a prognostic biomarker, the contribution of protein carbamylation to organ dysfunction remains uncertain. Because vascular calcification is common under carbamylation-prone situations, we investigated the effects of carbamylation on this pathologic condition.

High Titer of Acquired Factor V Inhibitor Presenting with a Pseudo-deficiency of Multiple Coagulation Factors.

Acquired coagulation factor inhibitor is a rare coagulation disorder. We herein report a patient with acquired factor V inhibitor showing a decrease in multiple coagulation factor activities. A high titer of factor V inhibitor presumably led to a marked inhibition of factor V activity in the specific factor-deficient plasma used in coagulation factor activity assays based on either an activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) or prothrombin time (PT) clotting assay, resulting in false low values of the coagulation activity.

[Merkel cell carcinoma of the ear lobe complicated with nephrosis syndrome and malignant lymphoma: a case report].

Here we report a rare case of Merkel cell carcinoma complicated with nephrosis and malignant lymphoma. A 79-year-old male, who had undergone rectectomy due to colorectal cancer about 10 years previously, was diagnosed as Merkel cell carcinoma of the left ear lobe with lymph node metastases. Tumor resection and lymph node dissection were performed.

Excess 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 exacerbates tubulointerstitial injury in mice by modulating macrophage phenotype.

Vitamin D hydroxylated at carbon 25 (25(OH)D) is generally recognized as a precursor of active vitamin D. Despite its low affinity for the vitamin D receptor (VDR), both deficient and excessive 25(OH)D levels are associated with poor clinical outcomes. Here we studied direct effects of 25(OH)D3 on the kidney using 25(OH)D-1α-hydroxylase (CYP27B1) knockout mice.

Lenalidomide and Dexamethasone for a Patient of POEMS Syndrome Presenting with Massive Ascites.

POEMS syndrome is a multisystem disorder characterized by polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal gammopathy, and skin changes. POEMS syndrome is a rare cause of refractory ascites. We report the case of a patient with POEMS syndrome presenting with massive ascites who was treated with very-low-dose lenalidomide and dexamethasone.

[Kidney and bone update : the 5-year history and future of CKD-MBD. Mineral and bone disorder in kidney transplant recipients].

CKD-MBD in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) is multifactorial. Although it is characterized by drastic changes in laboratory parameters just after transplantation and uncoupling bone mineral metabolism induced by immunosuppressive drugs and progressive renal dysfunction, its pathophysiology starts before transplantation such that CKD-MBD in dialysis patients arises from predialysis CKD stages. The legacy effect of CKD-MBD gained during dialysis period is rather remarkable, and thus a long-term management of CKD-MBD as a continuum is essential.

Human herpesvirus 6 open reading frame U14 protein and cellular p53 interact with each other and are contained in the virion.

A mass spectroscopic analysis of proteins from human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6)-infected cells showed that the HHV-6 U14 protein coimmunoprecipitated with the tumor suppressor p53. The binding of U14 to p53 was verified by coimmunoprecipitation experiments in both Molt-3 cells infected with HHV-6 and 293 cells cotransfected with U14 and p53 expression vectors. Indirect immunofluorescence assays (IFAs) showed that by 18 h postinfection (hpi) U14 localized to the dot-like structures observed in both the nucleus and cytoplasm where p53 was partly accumulated.

Intracellular processing of human herpesvirus 6 glycoproteins Q1 and Q2 into tetrameric complexes expressed on the viral envelope.

Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) glycoproteins H and L (gH and gL, respectively) and the 80-kDa form of glycoprotein Q (gQ-80K) form a heterotrimeric complex that is found on the viral envelope and that is a viral ligand for human CD46. Besides gQ-80K, the gQ gene encodes an additional product whose mature molecular mass is 37 kDa (gQ-37K) and which is derived from a different transcript. Therefore, we designated gQ-80K as gQ1 and gQ-37K as gQ2.

Discovery of a second form of tripartite complex containing gH-gL of human herpesvirus 6 and observations on CD46.

The human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) glycoprotein H (gH)-glycoprotein L (gL) complex associates with glycoprotein Q (gQ) (Y. Mori, P. Akkapaiboon, X.