Cost-effectiveness analysis of on-line hemodiafiltration in Japan.

Background/aims: Evaluation of the socioeconomic value of medical intervention and establishment of the resources necessary for clinical practice are important for new developments in medical technology. The aim of this study was to determine the socioeconomic value of on-line hemodiafiltration (HDF).

Methods: The subjects were 24 patients who underwent hemodialysis (HD) (9 HDF, 15 HD) for chronic renal failure.

Elevated serum interleukin-18 levels might reflect the high risk of hospitalization in patients on peritoneal dialysis.

Background: Interleukin (IL)-18 is a potent pro-inflammatory cytokine and plays a central role in atherosclerotic plaque rupture and accelerates atherosclerosis.

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine serum IL-18 levels in patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD) and to assess their relationship with hospitalization.

Methods: Forty-three PD patients and 20 healthy individuals were enrolled in this study.

The critical role of SRC homology domain 2-containing tyrosine phosphatase-1 in recombinant human erythropoietin hyporesponsive anemia in chronic hemodialysis patients.

The molecular mechanism of anemia that is hyporesponsive to recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) in hemodialysis patients without underlying causative factors has not been investigated fully in hematopoietic stem cell system. Circulating CD34+ cells (1 x 10(4)) were isolated from rHuEPO hyporesponsive hemodialysis patients (EPO-H; n = 9), patients who were responsive to rHuEPO (EPO-R; n = 9), and healthy control subjects (n = 9). The patients with known causes of EPO hyporesponsiveness were eliminated from the current study.

Significance of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine levels in patients with chronic renal failure.

The aim of this study was to determine the significance of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), which is known as a marker of oxidative stress in vivo, in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF). Fifty-one non-dialysed CRF patients (29 men and 22 women; mean +/- SD age, 57.8 +/- 12.

Perturbation of autocrine/paracrine loops of burst-forming units of erythroid-derived cells in rHuEPO-hyporesponsive hemodialysis patients.

Background: Quantitative or qualitative abnormalities of erythroid progenitors in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) could be the major factor for recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) hyporesponsiveness and severe anemia in hemodialysis (HD) patients receiving rHuEPO therapy.

Methods: Purified 1 x 10(4) circulating CD34+ cells isolated from rHuEPO-hyporesponsive HD patients (EPO-H; n = 10), rHuEPO-responsive non-HD patients with CRF (EPO-R; n = 8), nonanemic HD patients without rHuEPO therapy (EPO-W/O; n = 10), and healthy volunteer controls (CON; n = 10) were subjected to a methylcellulose culture system supplemented with rHuEPO, recombinant human interleukin-3 (IL-3), recombinant human stem cell factor (SCF), and recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) for 14 days.

Results: The average number of burst-forming units of erythroids (BFU-Es) was significantly less in the EPO-H group compared with the CON and EPO-W/O groups.

Plasma neuropeptide Y concentrations in patients on hemodialysis.

Background: Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a 36-amino-acid peptide that was originally isolated from the porcine brain. NPY, in contrast to leptin, is one of the most potent appetite stimulants. In some previous studies, NPY was found to be correlated with mean blood pressure (MBP) and fluid volume in patients on hemodialysis (HD), contributing to volume-induced hypertension.

[A case of minimal change nephrotic syndrome manifesting acute renal failure in the course of systemic lupus erythematosus].

A 51-year-old woman with systematic lupus erythematosus(SLE) associated with minimal change nephrotic syndrome(MCNS) is described. The patient was diagnosed as SLE at 33 years of age. After steroid therapy for two years, the patient's course was uneventful without therapy until June 2000, when facial erythema and facial, pretibial edema developed.

Serum levels of soluble CD26 and CD30 in patients on hemodialysis.

Background/aims: Various abnormalities of the immune system have been demonstrated in patients on hemodialysis (HD). We hypothesize that the imbalance between type 1 helper T (Th1) cells and type 2 helper T (Th2) cells in patients on HD contributes to these abnormalities. Furthermore, we investigate the relationship between the Th1/Th2 imbalance and HD duration.

Plasma orexin concentrations in patients on hemodialysis.

Background: Orexins A and B are neuropeptides that regulate feeding behavior and are localized exclusively in neurons within and around the lateral hypothalamic area. Intracerebroventricular injection of orexin A stimulates food consumption in rats. Plasma concentrations of orexins may reflect nutritional states and may have clinical significance in patients on hemodialysis.

Expression of Fc gamma receptor III (CD16) on monocytes during hemodialysis in patients with chronic renal failure.

Background/aims: Circulating CD14+CD16+ monocytes, a potent phagocytosing and antigen-presenting monocyte population, have been reported to be expanded in patients on hemodialysis (HD). In this study, changes in the population of CD14+CD16+ monocytes were analyzed during a single session of HD therapy, and the influence of dialyzer membrane materials on these monocytes was investigated.

Methods: Nine patients were hemodialyzed using regenerated cellulose (RC) membranes and thereafter polysulfone (PS) membranes.