[Patients treated by peritoneal dialysis: a heterogeneous group of patients. Profile of PD patients].

Often, one gathers together under the denomination "peritoneal dialysis" patients with various clinical profiles. To quantify this "heterogeneity" we analysed the clinical characteristics of 32,975 patients treated by dialysis at 31 December 2008 in 22 French regions, participating to the REIN registry. This cross-sectional study confirms our initial hypothesis of a great heterogeneity of patients' profiles in peritoneal dialysis.

Cyclic GMP modulates store-operated calcium entry inducing phosphatidylserine translocation at the surface of megakaryocytic cells.

When subjected to stimulation, cells from the vascular compartment show a spontaneous collapse of the plasma membrane phospholipid asymmetry and phosphatidylserine is exposed at the external leaflet. Thus, phosphatidylserine externalization is essential for normal hemostasis and phagocytosis. The mechanism governing the migration of phosphatidylserine to the exoplasmic leaflet is not yet fully understood.

Is sirolimus responsible for proteinuria?

Sirolimus (SRL) is suspected to induce proteinuria. We retrospectively studied proteinuria in a population of liver (n = 29) and kidney transplant (n = 30) recipients switched to SRL with progressive diminution or withdrawal of calcineurin inhibitors (CNI). We also observed estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR), modification of treatment with antiproteinuric drugs, and changes in concentration of SRL.

[Why and how to measure cardiovascular risk?].

In cardiovascular medicine, the absolute risk is the observed incidence of events over a defined period of time. The relative risk is the multiplicative factor or risk factor. The cardiovascular global risk is multifactorial but is usually difficult to assess without a predictive model derived from large scale epidemiological studies such as Framingham cohort.