[Nephrologic emergency or bland course? Why glomerulonephritis should be checked out].

Glomerulonephritis frequently takes an asymptomatic course, and may lead on to chronic renal insufficiency. If clinical signs of glomerulonephritis are present, the syndrome must be characterized by means of a comprehensive diagnostic work-up. The definitive diagnosis can be established only on the basis of a renal biopsy, which also permits an assessment of the prognosis.

Regulation of rat mesangial cell growth by diadenosine phosphates.

The newly recognized human endogenous vasoconstrictive dinucleotides, diadenosine pentaphosphate (AP5A) and diadenosine hexaphosphate (AP6A), were tested for growth stimulatory effects in rat mesangial cells (MC). Both AP5A and AP6A stimulated growth in micromolar concentrations. The growth stimulatory effect exceeded that of ATP, alpha,beta-methylene ATP, adenosine 5'-O-(3-thio)triphosphate and UTP.

Erythropoietin increases cytosolic free calcium concentration in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Objectives: The underlying pathophysiological mechanism leading to raised blood pressure after treatment with erythropoietin is a point of much discussion. Direct vasopressor effects of erythropoietin have been shown recently. The aim was to determine whether erythropoietin effects cytosolic free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Ca2+ ATPase activity in essential and renal hypertension.

In 15 patients with essential hypertension, 16 patients with renal hypertension and in 12 healthy subjects Ca2+ ATPase activity was determined in red blood cells both in the basal state and after maximal stimulation with calmodulin. Normal subjects showed a basal and maximal activity of 7.1 +/- 3.

Erythropoietin induced transmembrane calcium influx in essential hypertension.

The effects of erythropoietin (EPO) on cytosolic free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) in platelets of 20 essential hypertensive patients (HT) and of 25 normotensive subjects (NT) were investigated using the fura2 technique. In resting platelets [Ca2+]i were not significantly higher in HT compared to NT (74.3 +/- 7.

Cough induced by ACE-inhibitors. A kinin related phenomenon?

Cough induced by ACE-inhibitors may be related to bronchial hyperreactivity and/or to an accumulation of kinins. In a placebo-controlled, double-blind randomized study in asthmatic and hypertensive patients lung function and bronchial reactivity to histamine and bradykinin remained unaltered although in hypertensive patients with cough, reactivity to histamine tended to be more pronounced and bronchial hyperreactivity to be more frequent than in those without cough. The findings do not support a major role of kinins in ACE inhibitor-induced cough.

Erythropoietin increases cytosolic free calcium concentration and thrombin induced changes in cytosolic free calcium in platelets from spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Using fura-2 cytosolic free calcium concentrations were measured in intact washed platelets from 9 spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and from 9 age-matched normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY). In resting platelets cytosolic free calcium concentration was significantly higher in SHR than in WKY (171.8 +/- 64.

[Assessment of the MESAM and Biox 3700 early warning methods for the diagnosis of sleep-related respiratory disorders in young men].

We can use pulse oximetry as a method for diagnosis of the sleep apnoea syndrome, as well as L-EKG, MESAM II and the actigraph. In this study MESAM II and pulse oximetry were combined for finding out discrete sleep-related breathing disorders. The results were compared with polysomnography.

[Septic arthritis as an initial manifestation of endocarditis].

A 60-year-old female patient was admitted to the hospital with high fever and an acute onset of pauciarticular arthritis. Clinical examination and ultrasound imaging of the right knee demonstrated a severe synovitis with a large synovial effusion and a Baker's cyst. Arthrocentesis showed an opaque viscous synovial fluid with a highly elevated white blood cell count.

The effect of antihypertensive treatment on the circulating hypertensive factor in the spontaneously hypertensive rat.

To elucidate the role of circulating hypertensive factors in the spontaneously hypertensive rat and the effects of antihypertensive treatment on the circulating hypertensive factor, cross circulation was performed in 54 couples of spontaneously hypertensive and normotensive rats. In normotensive rats cross-circulated with untreated spontaneously hypertensive rats mean arterial pressure increased by 20.9 +/- 12.

Arterial resistance vessels in primary hypertension--evidence for altered cellular Ca2+ metabolism.

The role of intracellular free Ca2+ in arterial smooth muscle was investigated in aortic smooth muscle cells from spontaneously hypertensive and normotensive rats, as well as in porcine aortic smooth muscle. Intracellular free Ca2+ in aortic smooth muscle from spontaneously hypertensive rats was elevated. Incubation of porcine aortic smooth muscle with plasma from essential hypertensive and normotensive subjects revealed a humoral factor in subjects with essential hypertension, which increased intracellular free Ca2+.