Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate in Renal Transplantation: The Nephrologist in the Mist.

Background: Formulas do not estimate renal function with acceptable precision and accuracy.

Methods: We compared 51 creatinine-based and/or cystatin c-based formulas with a gold standard (iohexol plasma clearance) in 193 renal transplant recipients using concordance correlation coefficient, total deviation index, coverage probability and the error in chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage classification.

Results: No formula showed a concordance correlation coefficient greater than 0.

The combined use of virtual reality exposure in the treatment of agoraphobia.

Introduction: This study compares the differential efficacy of three groups of treatments for agoraphobia: paroxetine combined with cognitive-behavioral therapy, paroxetine combined with cognitive-behavioral therapy and virtual reality exposure, and a group with only paroxetine.

Methodology: 99 patients with agoraphobia were finally selected. Both combined treatment groups received 11 sessions of cognitive-behavioral therapy, and one of the groups was also exposed to 4 sessions of virtual reality treatment.

Male Urinary Incontinence: Associated Risk Factors and Electromyography Biofeedback Results in Quality of Life.

The aim of the current study was to determine the demographic characteristics and risk factors associated with male urinary incontinence (UI) and to assess the effectiveness and the effect on the quality-of-life of a pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) protocol with electromyography-biofeedback (EMG-BFB) with surface electrodes. A prospective, quasi-experimental before-and-after study with a sample of 61 men out of 372 patients referred to the Pelvic Floor Unit from October 2005 to June 2012 was performed. The protocol consisted of 20 sessions of EMG-BFB supervised by a physiotherapist twice a week.

Appropriateness of oral drugs for long-term treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms in older persons: results of a systematic literature review and international consensus validation process (LUTS-FORTA 2014).

Aim: we aimed to systematically review drugs to treat lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) regularly used in older persons to classify appropriate and inappropriate drugs based on efficacy, safety and tolerability by using the Fit fOR The Aged (FORTA) classification.

Methods: to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of drugs used for treatment of LUTS in older persons, a systematic review was performed. Papers on clinical trials and summaries of individual product characteristics were analysed regarding efficacy and safety in older persons (≥65 years).

Comparison of sublingual therapeutic vaccine with antibiotics for the prophylaxis of recurrent urinary tract infections.

Objective: To compare the clinical impact of a prophylactic treatment with sublingual immunostimulation in the prevention of recurrent urinary tract infections (rUTIs) with the use of antibiotics.

Material And Methods: Retrospective cohort study evaluating the medical records of 669 women with rUTIs; 339 had a 6-month prophylaxis with antibiotics and 360 a 3-month prophylaxis with a sublingual bacterial preparation (MV 140-Uromune®). The time frame after the prophylaxis-period until the appearance of a new infection (assessed by uroculture) was scored and followed during 1 year.

Validation of a fast and low-cost alkaline lysis method for gDNA extraction in a pharmacogenetic context.

Purpose: Translation of pharmacogenetic findings from the research laboratory to the clinical practice demands simple and efficient procedures. In this sense, we evaluated the suitability of a modified protocol for genomic DNA extraction based on alkaline lysis of cells.

Methods: Dried blood samples were obtained from 48 patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

Enhancing sensorimotor activity by controlling virtual objects with gaze.

This fMRI work studies brain activity of healthy volunteers who manipulated a virtual object in the context of a digital game by applying two different control methods: using their right hand or using their gaze. The results show extended activations in sensorimotor areas, not only when participants played in the traditional way (using their hand) but also when they used their gaze to control the virtual object. Furthermore, with the exception of the primary motor cortex, regional motor activity was similar regardless of what the effector was: the arm or the eye.

Molecular recognition of PTS-1 cargo proteins by Pex5p: implications for protein mistargeting in primary hyperoxaluria.

Peroxisomal biogenesis and function critically depends on the import of cytosolic proteins carrying a PTS1 sequence into this organelle upon interaction with the peroxin Pex5p. Recent structural studies have provided important insights into the molecular recognition of cargo proteins by Pex5p. Peroxisomal import is a key feature in the pathogenesis of primary hyperoxaluria type 1 (PH1), where alanine:glyoxylate aminotransferase (AGT) undergoes mitochondrial mistargeting in about a third of patients.

The effect of mirabegron on patient-related outcomes in patients with overactive bladder: the results of post hoc correlation and responder analyses using pooled data from three randomized Phase III trials.

Purpose: To understand how improvements in the symptoms of overactive bladder (OAB) seen with the β3-adrenoceptor agonist mirabegron 50 mg, correlate with patient experience as measured by validated and standard patient-reported outcomes (PROs), and to identify whether there is overall directional consistency in the responsiveness of PROs to treatment effect.

Methods: In a post hoc analysis of pooled data from three randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 12-week Phase III trials of mirabegron 50 mg once daily, responder rates for incontinence frequency (≥50 % reduction in incontinence episodes/24 h from baseline to final visit), micturition frequency (≤8 micturitions/24 h at final visit), and PROs [minimally important differences in patient perception of bladder condition (PPBC) and subsets of the overactive bladder questionnaire (OAB-q) measuring total health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and symptom bother] were evaluated individually and in combination.

Results: Mirabegron 50 mg demonstrated greater improvement from baseline to final visit than placebo for each of the responder analyses, whether for individual objective and subjective outcomes or combinations thereof.

Descriptive analysis of antibiotic-resistant patterns of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) st398 isolated from healthy swine.

Background: Livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) such as the MRSA ST398 strain has spread all over the world and the most worrying aspect of this fact appears to be its capacity to easily spread to humans. The excessive use of antibiotics has made swine a reservoir of MRSA. The aim of the present study was to determine the antibiotic resistance profile of MRSA samples isolated from healthy swine of the island of Tenerife (Spain).

Subglottic secretion drainage and continuous control of cuff pressure used together save health care costs.

Background: Preventive strategies to reduce ventilator-associated respiratory infection (VARI) include the use of an endotracheal tube incorporating a lumen for subglottic secretion drainage (SSD) and a system for continuous control of endotracheal tube cuff pressure (CCCP). The health care costs associated with the combined use of these 2 measures aimed at preventing VARI are not known, however. The objective of this study was to determine whether the simultaneous use of these 2 preventive measures for VARI could save health care costs.

The consensus-based approach for gene/enzyme replacement therapies and crystallization strategies: the case of human alanine-glyoxylate aminotransferase.

Protein stability is a fundamental issue in biomedical and biotechnological applications of proteins. Among these applications, gene- and enzyme-replacement strategies are promising approaches to treat inherited diseases that may benefit from protein engineering techniques, even though these beneficial effects have been largely unexplored. In the present study we apply a sequence-alignment statistics procedure (consensus-based approach) to improve the activity and stability of the human AGT (alanine-glyoxylate aminotransferase) protein, an enzyme which causes PH1 (primary hyperoxaluria type I) upon mutation.

The efficacy and tolerability of the β3-adrenoceptor agonist mirabegron for the treatment of symptoms of overactive bladder in older patients.

Introduction: mirabegron is a β3-adrenoceptor agonist developed for the treatment of symptoms of overactive bladder (OAB). As the prevalence of OAB increases with age, a prospective subanalysis of individual and pooled efficacy and tolerability data from three 12-week, randomised, Phase III trials, and of tolerability data from a 1-year safety trial were conducted in order to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of mirabegron in subgroups of patients aged ≥65 and ≥75 years.

Methods: primary efficacy outcomes were change from baseline to final visit in the mean number of incontinence episodes/24 h and the mean number of micturitions/24 h.

Genital and urinary tract infections in diabetes: impact of pharmacologically-induced glucosuria.

Predisposition to genital infections and urinary tract infections (UTIs) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) results from several factors such as glucosuria, adherence of bacteria to the uroepithelium and immune dysfunction. The tendency to develop these infections could be even higher in patients with T2DM treated with the emerging class of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors. Studies have shown that pharmacologically-induced glucosuria with SGLT2 inhibitors raises the risk of developing genital infections and, to a relatively lesser extent, UTIs.

Role of gap junctions modulating hepatic vascular tone in cirrhosis.

Background & Aims: Gap junctions are formed by connexins (Cx), a family of proteins that couple endothelial and smooth muscle cells in systemic vessels. In this context, Cx allow the transmission of signals modulating vascular tone. Recently, vascular Cx have been observed in liver cells implicated in liver blood flow regulation.

Recurrent intraventricular thrombus six months after ST-elevation myocardial infarction in a diabetic man: a case report.

Background: Percutaneous coronary intervention with placement of a drug-eluting stent in a diabetic patient with ST-elevation myocardial infarction is a relatively common procedure, and always requires subsequent treatment with dual antiplatelet therapy. It is sometimes necessary to add oral anticoagulation therapy because of individual clinical circumstances, which further increases the risk of bleeding.

Case Presentation: A 66-year-old hypertensive diabetic man with a history of gastrointestinal bleeding was admitted with an ST-elevation inferior myocardial infarction that had been evolving over 72 h.

S100B and schizophrenia.

The research for peripheral biological markers of schizophrenia, although abundant, has been unfruitful. In the last 2 decades, the S100B protein has made its own room in this area of research. S100B is a calcium-binding protein that has been proposed as a marker of astrocyte activation and brain dysfunction.

Chronic intermittent hypoxia aggravates intrahepatic endothelial dysfunction in cirrhotic rats.

Unlabelled: Chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) occurs with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and provokes systemic endothelial dysfunction, which is associated with oxidative stress and low nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability. Cirrhotic livers exhibit intrahepatic endothelial dysfunction, which is characterized by an impaired endothelium-dependent response to vasodilators and hyperresponse to vasoconstrictors. We hypothesized that CIH may also contribute to intrahepatic endothelial dysfunction in cirrhosis.

Immunogenicity and acceptance of influenza A (H1N1) vaccine in a cohort of chronic hepatitis C patients receiving pegylated-interferon treatment.

Unlabelled: BACKGROUND #ENTITYSTARTX00026;

Aims: Individuals at risk of (H1N1) influenza A infection are recommended to receive vaccination. Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients receiving treatment might be at a higher risk of respiratory bacterial infections after influenza infection. However, there are no observational studies evaluating the immunogenicity, tolerance and acceptance of 2009 influenza A vaccine in CHC patients.