The association between coffee and caffeine consumption and renal function: insight from individual-level data, Mendelian randomization, and meta-analysis.

Introduction: The reported relationship between coffee intake and renal function is poorly understood. By applying two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) and systematic review and meta-analysis we investigated the association of caffeine and coffee intake with prevalent CKD and markers of renal function.

Material And Methods: For the individual data analysis we analyzed the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) data on renal function markers and caffeine intake.

Evaluation of cardiovascular events and progression to end-stage renal disease in patients with dyslipidemia and chronic kidney disease from the North-Eastern area of Romania.

Purpose: The aim of this prospective cohort study was: to identify the association between different biomarkers [proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin 9-PCSK9, lipoprotein(a)-Lp(a) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein-hsCRP] and the cardiovascular events; to evaluate the relationship between the 3 biomarkers mentioned above and the renal outcomes that contributed to end-stage renal disease (ESRD).

Methods: We studied 110 patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages 2 to 4. The identification of the new cardiovascular events and the renal outcomes were performed by clinical and paraclinical explorations.

Apolipoproteins A and B and PCSK9: Nontraditional Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Chronic Kidney Disease and in End-Stage Renal Disease.

Purpose: Nontraditional cardiovascular risk factors as apolipoprotein A (ApoA), apolipoprotein B (ApoB), and the proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) increase the prevalence of cardiovascular mortality in chronic kidney disease (CKD) or in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) through quantitative alterations. This review is aimed at establishing the biomarker (ApoA, ApoB, and PCSK9) level variations in uremic patients, to identify the studies showing the association between these biomarkers and the development of cardiovascular events and to depict the therapeutic options to reduce cardiovascular risk in CKD and ESRD patients.

Methods: We searched the electronic database of PubMed, Scopus, EBSCO, and Cochrane CENTRAL for studies evaluating apolipoproteins and PCSK9 in CKD and ESRD.

Cardioprotective apelin effects and the cardiac-renal axis: review of existing science and potential therapeutic applications of synthetic and native regulated apelin.

First described in 1998, apelin is one of the endogenous ligands of the apelinergic receptor. Since its discovery, its possible role in human physiology and disease has been intensively studied. Apelin is a native cardioprotective agent that the body synthesizes to create atheroprotective, antihypertensive, and regenerative effects in the body.

The Psychological Abuse of the Elderly - a Silent Factor of Cardiac Decompensation.

Abuse of the elderly is a major issue debated worldwide. The most commonly identified form of abuse is the physical abuse. It is also the most frequently studied in the medical literature.

Coronary risk score for mineral bone disease in chronic non-diabetic hemodialysis patients: results from a prospective pilot study.

Introduction: Chronic kidney disease-mineral bone disorder enhances coronary artery impairment (often occult and difficult to diagnose) in hemodialysis (HD) patients. The aim of the study was to correlate biochemical and imagistic parameters of MBD with the degree of documented coronary artery disease (CAD) in non-diabetic HD patients, in order to obtain a MBD-coronary risk score as a screening algorithm.

Methods: A 3-year prospective study was conducted on 168 non-diabetic HD patients, evaluating MBD biochemical parameters along with pulse wave velocity (PWV) determination and valve/coronary calcification assessment; coronary angiography was performed in symptomatic patients.