The Incidence, Causes, and Risk Factors of Acute Kidney Injury in Patients Receiving Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors.

Background And Objectives: Immune checkpoint inhibitor use in oncology is increasing rapidly. We sought to determine the frequency, severity, cause, and predictors of AKI in a real-world population receiving checkpoint inhibitors.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: We included all patients who received checkpoint inhibitor therapy from May 2011 to December 2016 at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Direct-acting antiviral therapy slows kidney function decline in patients with Hepatitis C virus infection and chronic kidney disease.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is common and can accelerate chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression. Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapies against hepatitis C have consistently shown rates of sustained viral remission. However, the effect on kidney function is unknown.

Integrating informatics tools and portable sequencing technology for rapid detection of resistance to anti-tuberculous drugs.

Background: Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistance to anti-tuberculosis drugs is a major threat to global public health. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) is rapidly gaining traction as a diagnostic tool for clinical tuberculosis settings. To support this informatically, previous work led to the development of the widely used TBProfiler webtool, which predicts resistance to 14 drugs from WGS data.

Genome-wide analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis polymorphisms reveals lineage-specific associations with drug resistance.

Background: Continuing evolution of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) complex genomes associated with resistance to anti-tuberculosis drugs is threatening tuberculosis disease control efforts. Both multi- and extensively drug resistant Mtb (MDR and XDR, respectively) are increasing in prevalence, but the full set of Mtb genes involved are not known. There is a need for increased sensitivity of genome-wide approaches in order to elucidate the genetic basis of anti-microbial drug resistance and gain a more detailed understanding of Mtb genome evolution in a context of widespread antimicrobial therapy.

Author Correction: Genome-wide analysis of multi- and extensively drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

In the version of this article initially published, the URL listed for TubercuList was incorrect. The correct URL is https://mycobrowser.epfl.

Genome-wide analysis of multi- and extensively drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

To characterize the genetic determinants of resistance to antituberculosis drugs, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 6,465 Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates from more than 30 countries. A GWAS approach within a mixed-regression framework was followed by a phylogenetics-based test for independent mutations. In addition to mutations in established and recently described resistance-associated genes, novel mutations were discovered for resistance to cycloserine, ethionamide and para-aminosalicylic acid.

Correlation of acute tubular injury in reperfusion biopsy with renal transplant outcomes.

Acute tubular injury (ATI) is common at reperfusion, but its relationship to graft outcomes is unclear. Prior studies lack standardization of morphological assessments and included elements of acute and chronic tubular injury. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of ATI on graft outcomes.

Compromised store-operated Ca2+ entry in aged skeletal muscle.

In aged skeletal muscle, changes to the composition and function of the contractile machinery cannot fully explain the observed decrease in the specific force produced by the contractile machinery that characterizes muscle weakness during aging. Since modification in extracellular Ca(2+) entry in aged nonexcitable and excitable cells has been recently identified, we evaluated the functional status of store-operated Ca(2+) entry (SOCE) in aged mouse skeletal muscle. Using Mn(2+) quenching of Fura-2 fluorescence and confocal-microscopic imaging of Ca(2+) movement from the transverse tubules, we determined that SOCE was severely compromised in muscle fibers isolated from aged mice (26-27 months) as compared with those from young (2-5 months) mice.