Tobacco Smoking and Smokeless Tobacco Use among Domestic and International Medical Students in Hungary.

Medical students as future physicians will have an important role in tobacco control; therefore, their tobacco use behavior is of particular interest. Consumption of combustible tobacco (cigarettes, waterpipes, cigars, and pipes) is prevalent throughout Europe, whereas smokeless tobacco use is common mainly in the Nordic countries. Aim of our study is to assess tobacco use among medical students from different countries studying in Hungary with special focus on students from Norway where smokeless tobacco is widely used.

Increasing Prevalence of Electronic Cigarette Use among Medical Students. Repeated Cross-Sectional Multicenter Surveys in Germany and Hungary, 2016-2018.

Use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) is gaining popularity among young adults. Medical students' nicotine use behavior is of particular interest because of their impending role in health promotion. Aim of our study is to assess changes that occurred between 2016 and 2018 in the prevalence of e-cigarette use among medical students and to explore associations between e-cigarette use, demographic characteristics, and cigarette smoking.

Cigarette, waterpipe and e-cigarette use among an international sample of medical students. Cross-sectional multicenter study in Germany and Hungary.

Background: Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death worldwide. Besides cigarette smoking, waterpipe and e-cigarettes are gaining popularity among young adults. Medical students' smoking behavior is of particular interest because of their impending role in health promotion as future physicians.

Accumulation of renin and imidazolone in peritubular capillary endothelial cells in insulin-resistant hypertensive rats.

Background: Peritubular endothelium plays a key role in the development and progression of diabetic and nondiabetic chronic kidney disease. Renal injury in disorders of glucose metabolism may appear as early as in the stage of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and is accelerated by hypertension. The aim of our study was to investigate renal histology in rats with hypertension and IGT, with special emphasis on the peritubular endothelium.

Measurement of the modification and interference rate of urinary albumin detected by size-exclusion HPLC.

The measurement of the excretion of urinary albumin (albuminuria) is an important and well-established method to assess clinical outcomes. A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been introduced to measure albuminuria. Using this method, it was found that commonly used immunological methods do not measure a fraction of urinary albumin.

Effects of pentoxifylline and pentosan polysulphate combination therapy on diabetic neuropathy in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Vascular dysfunction, including impaired perfusion has a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of microvascular complications in diabetes mellitus. Both pentoxifylline (PF) and pentosan polysulphate (PPS) are known to improve microcirculation. Antioxidant and antiproteinuric effects of PF are also known.

Serum total LDH activity and LDH-2 isozyme in nephrotic syndrome.

Background/aims: Proteinuria, hypoproteinaemia, hypoalbuminaemia and oedema are major characteristics of nephrotic syndrome. Aims of this study were to detect serum total LDH activity and its isozymes in nephrotic syndrome.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study, clinical parameters were compared in three cohorts, namely kidney patients with or without nephrotic syndrome and hypoalbuminaemic controls (NEPHR, NON-NEPHR, CONTR, respectively).

[Analysis of microalbuminuria with immunonephelometry and high performance liquid chromatography. Evaluation of new criteria].

Introduction: Hypertension as well as type 2 diabetes mellitus is a major factor in population mortality. Both diseases damage the endothelium, the early sign of which is microalbuminuria, which can be screened by dipstick and can be diagnosed by using immuno-based and high performance liquid chromatography methods. Using high performance liquid chromatography, the non-immunoreactive albumin can be detected as well.

Genomic damage and malignancy in end-stage renal failure: do advanced glycation end products contribute?

In end-stage renal disease (ESRD) there is not only excessive morbidity and mortality due to cardiovascular disease but also an enhanced occurrence of various types of cancer. Both are characterized by oxidative stress and inflammation as two of the central underlying causes of the disease states. In cancer, genomic damage has been demonstrated to be of high pathogenetic relevance.

Serum carboxymethyllysine predicts mortality in hemodialysis patients.

Background: Hemodialysis patients show markedly elevated serum levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). AGEs have been implicated in the pathogenesis of vascular damage and are regarded as a class of uremic toxins. However, to date, serum AGE level could not be identified as an independent predictor of mortality.

Accumulation of the hydroxyl free radical markers meta-, ortho-tyrosine and DOPA in cataractous lenses is accompanied by a lower protein and phenylalanine content of the water-soluble phase.

Post-translational modifications of lens proteins play a crucial role in the formation of cataract during ageing. The aim of our study was to analyze protein composition of the cataractous lenses by electrophoretic and high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) methods. Samples were obtained after extracapsular cataract surgery performed by phacoemulsification technique from cataract patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM CAT, n = 22) and cataract patients without diabetes (non-DM CAT, n = 20), while non-diabetic non-cataractous lenses obtained from cadaver eyes served as controls (CONTR, n = 17).

Urinary ortho-tyrosine excretion in diabetes mellitus and renal failure: evidence for hydroxyl radical production.

Background: Phenylalanine is converted to para- and ortho-tyrosine by hydroxyl free radical, or to para-tyrosine by the phenylalanine hydroxylase enzyme. The aim of this study was to measure para- and ortho-tyrosine in the urine and plasma of patients with chronic renal disease and/or diabetes, to obtain information on the renal handling of the different tyrosine isomers and, furthermore, to measure urinary levels of 8-epi-prostaglandin-F(2alpha), a marker of lipid peroxidation.

Methods: In our cross-sectional study we measured para-, ortho-tyrosine, and phenylalanine levels, using high performance liquid chromatography and 8-epi-prostaglandin-F(2alpha) with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Prevention and treatment of diabetic nephropathy.

Increasing number of diabetic patients develop different stages of renal failure. However, often an inappropriate parameter, the serum creatinine is measured as a marker of glomerular function. Calculated glomerular filtration rate or endogenous creatinine clearance are suggested to be used for the estimation of the glomerular function.

[Effect of ACE gene polymorphism on carbohydrate metabolism, on oxidative stress and on end-organ damage in type-2 diabetes mellitus].

ACE gene insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism is a well-known risk factor of hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and progression of diabetic nephropathy. In carriers of allele D, serum level of angiotensin-II is higher, which can be associated with increased oxidative stress and subsequent endothelial damage. Albuminuria is a sensitive marker of endothelial damage, while serum activity of the enzyme gamma-glutamyl transferase--that plays important role in the antioxidant defense--may refer to the level of oxidative stress.

[Role of the renin-angiotensin system in the pathogenesis, clinical picture and treatment of diabetic nephropathy].

Prevalence of diabetic nephropathy is increasing. Understanding of pathogenesis and clinical picture helps to manage this disease. Recent data of the research of this disease support that the renin-angiotensin system plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis.

Plasma levels of advanced glycation end products during haemodialysis, haemodiafiltration and haemofiltration: potential importance of dialysate quality.

Background: Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) accumulate in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The aim of this study was to investigate the potential influence of different modalities of renal replacement therapies on plasma AGE levels.

Methods: The removal of AGEs by high-flux haemodialysis (HD) using standard and ultrapure dialysis fluid (SDF and UDF), by haemodiafiltration (HDF) and by haemofiltration (HF) was studied by fluorescence spectroscopy and by a carboxymethyllysine (CML)-specific ELISA.