Association of Prescription With Body Composition and Patient Outcomes in Incident Peritoneal Dialysis Patients.

The nutritional status of patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD) is influenced by patient- and disease-related factors and lifestyle. This analysis evaluated the association of PD prescription with body composition and patient outcomes in the prospective incident Initiative for Patient Outcomes in Dialysis-Peritoneal Dialysis (IPOD-PD) patient cohort. In this observational, international cohort study with longitudinal follow-up of 1,054 incident PD patients, the association of PD prescription with body composition was analyzed by using the linear mixed models, and the association of body composition with death and change to hemodialysis (HD) by means of a competing risk analysis combined with a spline analysis.

Donor variability alters differentiation and mechanical cohesion of tissue-engineered constructs with human endothelial/MSC co-culture.

To move towards clinical applications, tissue engineering (TE) should be validated with human primary cells and offer easy connection to the native vascularisation. Based on a sheet-like bone substitute developed previously, we investigated a mesenchymal stem cells/endothelial cells (MSCs/ECs) coculture to enhance pre-vascularisation. Using MSCs from six independent donors whose differentiation potential was assessed towards two lineages, we focused on donor variability and cell crosstalk regarding bone differentiation.

Regulation of SMC traction forces in human aortic thoracic aneurysms.

Smooth muscle cells (SMCs) usually express a contractile phenotype in the healthy aorta. However, aortic SMCs have the ability to undergo profound changes in phenotype in response to changes in their extracellular environment, as occurs in ascending thoracic aortic aneurysms (ATAA). Accordingly, there is a pressing need to quantify the mechanobiological effects of these changes at single cell level.

The impact of volume overload on technique failure in incident peritoneal dialysis patients.

Background: Technique failure in peritoneal dialysis (PD) can be due to patient- and procedure-related factors. With this analysis, we investigated the association of volume overload at the start and during the early phase of PD and technique failure.

Methods: In this observational, international cohort study with longitudinal follow-up of incident PD patients, technique failure was defined as either transfer to haemodialysis or death, and transplantation was considered as a competing risk.

Evolution Over Time of Volume Status and PD-Related Practice Patterns in an Incident Peritoneal Dialysis Cohort.

Background And Objectives: Volume overload is frequent in prevalent patients on kidney replacement therapies and is associated with outcome. This study was devised to follow-up volume status of an incident population on peritoneal dialysis (PD) and to relate this to patient-relevant outcomes.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: This prospective cohort study was implemented in 135 study centers from 28 countries.

An Experimental Study of Paclitaxel Embolisation During Drug Coated Balloon Angioplasty.

Objective: Drug coated balloons (DCB) improve the patency of femoropopliteal angioplasty but their use in infrapopliteal lesions is debateable as paclitaxel (PTX) particle embolisation has been suspected in some trials. The aim of this study was to compare experimentally five DCBs in terms of distal embolism of PTX.

Methods: Twenty-five New Zealand rabbits were divided into five groups according to the DCB used: Lutonix (Bard), In.

Abdominal aortic aneurysms.

An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a localized dilatation of the infrarenal aorta. AAA is a multifactorial disease, and genetic and environmental factors play a part; smoking, male sex and a positive family history are the most important risk factors, and AAA is most common in men >65 years of age. AAA results from changes in the aortic wall structure, including thinning of the media and adventitia due to the loss of vascular smooth muscle cells and degradation of the extracellular matrix.

Neutrophils recruited by leukotriene B4 induce features of plaque destabilization during endotoxaemia.

Aims: Both leukotrienes and neutrophils have been linked to plaque destabilization. Despite being evoked, the role of leukotriene B4 (LTB4) in neutrophil recruitment to plaques and the concomitant effects of these two actors on plaque stability remain to be proven. Since both actors are elicited during endotoxaemia, a condition associated with the risk of cardiovascular events, we investigated whether endotoxaemia promotes LTB4-mediated neutrophil infiltration in plaques and explored the roles of LTB4 and neutrophils in plaque destabilization.

Exploring antibody-dependent adaptive immunity against aortic extracellular matrix components in experimental aortic aneurysms.

Background: Recent evidence suggests that adaptive immunity develops during abdominal aortic aneurysm evolution. Uncertainties remain about the antigens implicated and their role in inducing rupture. Because antigens from the extracellular matrix (ECM) have been suspected, the aim of this experimental study was to characterize the role of adaptive immunity directed against antigens from the aortic ECM.

Loss of KCNK3 is a hallmark of RV hypertrophy/dysfunction associated with pulmonary hypertension.

Aims: Mutations in the KCNK3 gene, which encodes for an outward-rectifier K+ channel, have been identified in patients suffering from pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), and constitute the first described channelopathy in PAH. In human PAH and experimental pulmonary hypertension (PH), we demonstrated that KCNK3 expression and function are severely reduced in pulmonary vascular cells, promoting PH-like phenotype at the morphologic and haemodynamic levels. Since KCNK3 channel is also expressed in both the human and rodent heart, we aimed to elucidate the pathophysiological role of KCNK3 channel in right ventricular (RV) hypertrophy (RVH) related to PH.

From genetics to response to injury: vascular smooth muscle cells in aneurysms and dissections of the ascending aorta.

Vascular smooth muscle cells (vSMCs) play a crucial role in both the pathogenesis of Aneurysms and Dissections of the ascending thoracic aorta (TAAD) in humans and in the associated adaptive compensatory responses, since thrombosis and inflammatory processes are absent in the majority of cases. Aneurysms and dissections share numerous characteristics, including aetiologies and histopathological alterations: vSMC disappearance, medial areas of mucoid degeneration, and extracellular matrix (ECM) breakdown. Three aetiologies predominate in TAAD in humans: (i) genetic causes in heritable familial forms, (ii) an association with bicuspid aortic valves, and (iii) a sporadic degenerative form linked to the aortic aging process.

Free DNA precipitates calcium phosphate apatite crystals in the arterial wall in vivo.

Background And Aims: The arterial wall calcium score and circulating free DNA levels are now used in clinical practice as biomarkers of cardiovascular risk. Calcium phosphate apatite retention in the arterial wall necessitates precipitation on an anionic platform. Here, we explore the role of tissue-free DNA as such a platform.

Translational Relevance and Recent Advances of Animal Models of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm.

Unlabelled: Human abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) pathophysiology is not yet completely understood. In conductance arteries, the insoluble extracellular matrix, synthesized by vascular smooth muscle cells, assumes the function of withstanding the intraluminal arterial blood pressure. Progressive loss of this function through extracellular matrix proteolysis is a main feature of AAAs.

Disruption of the Phosphate Transporter Pit1 in Hepatocytes Improves Glucose Metabolism and Insulin Signaling by Modulating the USP7/IRS1 Interaction.

The liver plays a central role in whole-body lipid and glucose homeostasis. Increasing dietary fat intake results in increased hepatic fat deposition, which is associated with a risk for development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. In this study, we demonstrate a role for the phosphate inorganic transporter 1 (PiT1/SLC20A1) in regulating metabolism.

Blocking neutrophil diapedesis prevents hemorrhage during thrombocytopenia.

Spontaneous organ hemorrhage is the major complication in thrombocytopenia with a potential fatal outcome. However, the exact mechanisms regulating vascular integrity are still unknown. Here, we demonstrate that neutrophils recruited to inflammatory sites are the cellular culprits inducing thrombocytopenic tissue hemorrhage.

Toll-like receptor 3 expression and function in childhood idiopathic nephrotic syndrome.

The efficacy of steroids and immunosuppressive treatments in idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS) hints at the implication of immune cells in the pathophysiology of the disease. Toll-like receptor (TLR) dysfunctions are involved in many kidney diseases of immune origin, but remain little described in INS. We investigated the expression and function of TLRs in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of INS children, including 28 in relapse, 23 in remission and 40 controls.

Low levels of low-density lipoprotein-C associated with proprotein convertase subtilisin kexin 9 inhibition do not increase the risk of hemorrhagic transformation.

Background And Purpose: Low levels of low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) are suspected to be associated with a risk of hemorrhagic transformation after ischemic stroke. We assessed the risk of hemorrhagic transformation after cerebral ischemia/reperfusion in mice with low levels of LDL-C resulting from proprotein convertase subtilisin kexin 9 (PCSK9) deficiency.

Methods: PCSK9-/- and PCSK9+/+ mice were fed with a high-fat/high-cholesterol (21%/0.

Pathology of human plaque vulnerability: mechanisms and consequences of intraplaque haemorrhages.

Atherothrombotic diseases are still major causes of inability and mortality and fighting atherothrombosis remains a public health priority. The involvement of repeated intraplaque haemorrhages (IPH) in the evolution of atherothrombotic lesions towards complications was proposed as early as 1936. This important topic has been recently revisited and reviewed.

Intraplaque haemorrhages as the trigger of plaque vulnerability.

Atherothrombosis remains one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in the western countries. Human atherothrombotic disease begins early in life in relation to circulating lipid retention in the inner vascular wall. Risk factors enhance the progression towards clinical expression: dyslipidaemia, diabetes, smoking, hypertension, ageing, etc.

Mesothelial cells vs. skeletal myoblasts for myocardial infarction.

Cell transplantation for the regeneration of ischemic myocardium is limited by poor graft viability and low cell retention. Omental flaps in association with growth factors and cell sheets have recently been used to increase the vascularization of ischemic hearts. This experimental study was undertaken to evaluate the hemodynamic evolution and histological modifications of infarcted myocardium treated with mesothelial cells, and to compare the results with those of hearts treated with skeletal myoblasts.

Serum sickness after wasp venom immunotherapy: clinical and biological study.

We describe a case of a man who developed serum sickness during wasp venom immunotherapy. Remarkable features were unusually severe neurological symptoms, multiple relapses in the absence of rechallenge, parallel course between clinical symptoms, serum levels of specific reagins and their antibodies, and a dramatic response to plasma exchange therapy. Desensitization is widely used and can cause a wide range of adverse effects; however, systemic vasculitis is a very rare complication and we are not aware of any case similar to ours, with serum sickness after injection of highly purified hymenoptera antigen.