Serum phosphate levels and risk of infection in incident dialysis patients.

Background And Objectives: Hyperphosphatemia is highly prevalent in dialysis patients and may be associated with immune dysfunction. The association of serum phosphate level with infection remains largely unexamined.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: In an incident cohort of 1010 dialysis patients enrolled from 1995 to 1998 and treated in 80 US clinics, the association of phosphate level (low <3.

NPHS2 variation in sporadic focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.

Mutations in NPHS2, the gene that encodes podocin, are well-established causes of both familial and sporadic steroid-resistant focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) in the pediatric population, but have not been well-characterized in late-onset disease. To investigate the role of NPHS2 polymorphisms in sporadic cases of late-onset FSGS, we studied 377 biopsy-confirmed FSGS cases and 919 controls. We identified 18 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) by resequencing a subgroup of cases and controls, and subsequently genotyped African-American and European-American cases and controls for five missense SNPs, three SNPs within introns, and four SNPs in the 3' untranslated region.

Variants in the Wilms' tumor gene are associated with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in the African American population.

Wilms' tumor gene (WT1) is important for nephrogenesis and gonadal growth. WT1 mutations cause Denys-Drash and Frasier syndromes, which are characterized by glomerular scarring. To test whether genetic variations in WT1 and WIT1 (gene immediately 5' to WT1) associate with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), patients with biopsy-proven idiopathic and HIV-1-associated FSGS were enrolled in a multicenter study.

High-dose mycophenolate mofetil in the treatment of posttransplant glomerular disease in the allograft: a case series.

Background: Glomerular disease is an important cause of allograft loss. Treatment regimens for posttransplant glomerular disease are not well defined. Several reports have demonstrated that mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) is effective in treating native kidney glomerular disease.

Mycophenolate mofetil treatment for primary glomerular diseases.

Background: Treatment of primary glomerular diseases may be unsuccessful or have potential toxicities. Therefore, we evaluated the use of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) for empirical treatment of primary glomerulopathies.

Methods: Forty-six patients with biopsy-proven primary glomerulopathies received MMF for > or =3 months as adjunctive or primary treatment.