Publications by authors named "Silvia Linnenweber-Held"
Article Synopsis
- The study examined the survival rates of kidney transplant patients, comparing those who underwent re-transplantation (TX2) with first-time transplant patients (TX1) over a 10-year period.
- Results showed that TX2 patients had significantly worse graft and patient survival due to factors like more comorbidities, higher rates of infections, and lower body mass index.
- The research suggests that improving management of comorbidities could enhance outcomes for patients undergoing re-transplantation, as their immunosuppression may increase infection risks.
Article Synopsis
- Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a major viral infection risk for transplant patients, often leading to complications.
- Traditional methods for analyzing HCMV involve PCR and Sanger sequencing, which may miss important viral mutations and strain variations.
- High-throughput sequencing offers a more sensitive approach to monitor HCMV, revealing multiple strain infections and resistance mutations, helping clinicians to tailor effective treatments for affected patients.
Background: Advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies allow comprehensive studies of genetic diversity over the entire genome of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), a significant pathogen for immunocompromised individuals.
Methods: Next-generation sequencing was performed on target enriched sequence libraries prepared directly from a variety of clinical specimens (blood, urine, breast milk, respiratory samples, biopsies, and vitreous humor) obtained longitudinally or from different anatomical compartments from 20 HCMV-infected patients (renal transplant recipients, stem cell transplant recipients, and congenitally infected children).
Results: De novo-assembled HCMV genome sequences were obtained for 57 of 68 sequenced samples.
Bilateral bipolar electric carotid sinus stimulation acutely reduced muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) and blood pressure (BP) in patients with resistant arterial hypertension but is no longer available. The second-generation device uses a smaller unilateral unipolar disk electrode to reduce invasiveness while saving battery life. We hypothesized that the second-generation device acutely lowers BP and MSNA in treatment-resistant hypertensive patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) and acute kidney injury (AKI) after infection with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (EHEC) are clinically important complications. We present a retrospective analysis of abdominal ultrasound findings in patients with HUS caused by EHEC O104:H4 (n = 41).
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- BK virus (BKV) nephropathy is a major cause of kidney graft loss following living-donor kidney transplants, prompting a study to explore the infection's sources and influencing factors.
- In a study of 214 donor-recipient pairs, it was found that pretransplant urinary BKV shedding significantly increased the risk of posttransplant viruria, viremia, and nephropathy, with specific BKV subtypes being associated with worse outcomes.
- The findings indicate that monitoring for BKV in both donors and recipients before transplantation could be crucial for predicting posttransplant complications, as early detection of BKV in urine and blood suggests a higher likelihood of developing nephropathy.
Objectives: Multiple novel human polyomaviruses (HPyVs) have been discovered in the last few years. These or other, unknown, nephrotropic HPyVs may potentially be shed in urine.
Methods: To search for known and unknown HPyVs we investigated BKPyV-negative urine samples from 105 renal transplant recipients (RTR) by rolling circle amplification (RCA) analysis and quantitative JCPyV PCR.
Background: BK virus associated nephropathy (BKVN) leads to renal allograft dysfunction and loss. However, it is still unclear whether BKV replication in the transplant recipient is a result of reactivation in the recipient's native kidneys or whether BKV originates from the donor kidney.
Study Design: Urine of 249 donor/recipient pairs was investigated for the presence of BKV-DNA by qPCR before living transplantation (Tx) and consecutively after Tx.
Uncontrolled hypertension remains a significant public health challenge. In recent years, a new baroreflex stimulator has been used to treat these patients. Initial observations suggest that the electrical field stimulation of carotid baroreceptors acutely attenuates sympathetic activation of the vasculature, heart and kidney while augmenting cardiac vagal regulation.
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- BK virus nephropathy (BKVN) is challenging to predict, and a study diagnosed it in 5.5% of 859 transplant patients from 2008 to 2010 using specific staining and PCR methods.
- The treatment involved adjusting medications like calcineurin inhibitors or switching to mTOR inhibitors, with 61% of patients showing stable or improved kidney function (GFR) after adjustment.
- Key factors affecting outcomes included high viral loads, tacrolimus use, late diagnoses, and the speed of viral reduction, with faster reductions linked to better kidney function results.