Feature Channels: Kidney Disease

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• An assessment of symptoms that was incorporated into routine care for patients undergoing hemodialysis successfully standardized symptom screening processes, improved patient and provider symptom awareness, and empowered patients to raise issues with providers. • There was little, if any, improvement in the metrics used to assess symptom management, communication between patients and providers, and communication among different types of clinicians.

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The winners of National Institutes of Health’s 9th annual Design by Biomedical Undergraduate Teams (DEBUT) challenge developed simple and low-cost diagnostics and treatments for conditions such as tuberculosis, cervical cancer, birth defects, and onchocerciasis (river blindness).

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The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) in collaboration with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics released today the 2020 Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDOQI) Clinical Practice Guideline on Nutrition in Chronic Kidney Disease that will guide health care practitioners who treat people with all stages of kidney disease.

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Use of drug-coated balloon angioplasty to treat blocked blood vessels used for hemodialysis offers hope for millions of patients globally

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, Johns Hopkins Medicine Media Relations is focused on disseminating current, accurate and useful information to the public via the media. As part of that effort, we are distributing our “COVID-19 Tip Sheet: Story Ideas from Johns Hopkins” every other Tuesday.

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With the number of extreme weather days rising around the globe in recent years due to global warming, it is no surprise that there has been an upward trend in hospital visits and admissions for injuries caused by high heat over the last several years. But cold temperatures are responsible for almost all temperature-related deaths, according to a new study published in the journal Environmental Research.

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• Among US patients undergoing dialysis, those visiting dialysis facilities with higher proportions of minorities are less likely to be vaccinated against influenza, and the disparity seems to be increasing.

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• Studies conducted in mouse models, patients with cystic fibrosis, and different types of cells have helped to define how cystic fibrosis affects the kidneys. • A urine test may help to assess aspects of cystic fibrosis in patients, which may be useful for testing the effectiveness of new medications.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, Johns Hopkins Medicine Media Relations is focused on disseminating current, accurate and useful information to the public via the media. As part of that effort, we are distributing our “COVID-19 Tip Sheet: Story Ideas from Johns Hopkins” every Tuesday throughout the duration of the outbreak.

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A $500,000 KidneyX prize has been awarded to The Kidney Project — a collaboration between Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and UC San Francisco (UCSF) — for the development of an implantable dialysis system that would enable patients to safely and effectively treat kidney failure at home.

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Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) announced the six winners of the $3 million KidneyX: Redesign Dialysis Phase 2 competition during the virtual KidneyX Summit.

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Loyola Medicine is offering an innovative, fast and minimally invasive, one-time treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH, a common condition affecting most older men.

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• Exposure to higher amounts of fine particulate air pollution was associated with higher death rates among patients with kidney failure.

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Diseases of the Colon and Rectum Journal August 2020 Video Abstracts and Editor Picks

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Men who suffer from chronic kidney disease (CKD) have greater rates of reduced blood vessel function compared to women with the same disorder.

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• A recent study found that most kidney transplant recipients with COVID-19 do not need to be hospitalized. • Another study found that patients on dialysis who develop COVID-19 may have symptoms that are different from other patients with the infectious disease.

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Researchers at The Ohio State University College of Medicine are the first to identify an immune cell that may predict a transplant patient’s risk of developing antibodies that can cause organ rejection. This discovery could lead to the development of therapies to prevent complications after transplant surgery.

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• Kidney diseases affect more than 850 million people worldwide. • KidneyCure continues to propel positive change in public health, once again funding more than $3 million to support research that changes lives. • This year’s grant recipients, among the best and the brightest in the field, bring energy, innovation and expertise to areas undergoing rapid change: acute kidney injury and repair, home dialysis, and post-transplant care.

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• A new study has found that common terms used by physicians to describe kidney health may be distressing or too difficult to understand for patients with kidney disease.

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Historically, half or more of people with type 1 diabetes develop kidney disease, which frequently progresses to kidney failure requiring hemodialysis or a kidney transplant for survival. Progression of kidney disease in type 1 diabetes is correlated with increased amounts of uric acid. A multi-institution randomized clinical trial of a drug used to control uric acid did not show the desired clinical benefits, but did give a very clear answer to an important scientific question.

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• Physicians who are training to become kidney specialists reported that the electronic medical record enhances their education, but the time demands of data and order entry can be a downside.

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A novel liquid biopsy method can detect kidney cancers with high accuracy, including small, localized tumors which are often curable but for which no early detection method exists, say scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The report in Nature Medicine suggests that if validated in larger trials and applied widely, the non-invasive test could find more early kidney cancers when they haven't spread, thus reducing the mortality of the disease.

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Oxidative stress is the result of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and can be damaging to cells and tissues.

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Scientists have discovered an important cell signalling pathway in the kidney which if stopped, could hold the key to treating chronic kidney disease as well as other deadly conditions, including heart attack and stroke.

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People with kidney diseases are often excluded from clinical trials because of the complexity and high morbidity of kidney disease. COVID-19 puts people with kidney diseases at a two to sixteen-fold increased risk of severe symptoms. All investigators should include people with kidney diseases when developing vaccines, preventative therapies or treatments related to COVID-19.

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New research in mice finds that deficiency in one small component of a signaling pathway may protect against artery stiffening and subsequent kidney disease associated with a high-fat, high-sugar diet.

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• In a study of adults with kidney failure treated with dialysis, 21% of patients reported regret that they decided to initiate dialysis. Certain factors were linked with a higher likelihood of experiencing regret

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In March 2020, Hackensack University Medical Center voluntarily inactivated its transplant list and put a hold on performing transplant surgeries due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Throughout the pandemic, Hackensack University Medical Center’s organ transplant physicians continued to provide care to transplant candidates and previous organ recipients through telehealth virtual visits. Hackensack University Medical Center made the decision to reactivate its transplant list and resume offering transplant procedures now that enhanced patient safety measures designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have been successfully implemented across all Hackensack Meridian Health facilities.

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By analyzing tumors from patients treated with immunotherapy for advanced kidney cancer in three clinical trials, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists have identified several features of the tumors that influence their response to immune checkpoint inhibitor drugs.

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• In a study of patients with newly diagnosed kidney failure at 71 kidney centers in the UK, older age, additional illnesses, obesity, and lower socioeconomic status were associated with a lower likelihood of being put on transplant waiting list.

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The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the vulnerability of people with kidney failure who rely on in-center hemodialysis. People with kidney failure are at high risk of severe COVID-19 complications and are exposed to infection due to a kidney replacement therapy process that requires traveling to a dialysis facility multiple times a week.

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In an international trial led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, treatment with MK-6482, the small molecule inhibitor of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-2a was well tolerated and resulted in clinical responses for patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease (VHL)–associated renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

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An improved urine-testing system for people suffering from kidney stones inspired by nature and proposed by researchers from Penn State and Stanford University may enable patients to receive results within 30 minutes instead of the current turnaround time of a week or more.

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• In an analysis of information on US adults initiating hemodialysis, 16% of patients were dispensed a short-acting benzodiazepine, and approximately one-quarter of these patients were also dispensed opioids. • Among patients with an opioid prescription, being dispensed a short-acting benzodiazepine had a 1.9-fold higher risk of dying over a median follow-up of 16 months compared with patients without a short-acting benzodiazepine.

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• In an analysis of blood and urine samples from 46,748 US adults, elevated levels of 7 environmental chemicals were associated with markers of kidney disease.

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Red blood cells sometimes rupture when blood is sent through faulty equipment, such as a dialysis machine. This is called hemolysis. Hemolysis also can occur during blood work when blood is drawn too quickly through a needle, leading to defective laboratory samples. University of Delaware mechanical engineer Tyler Van Buren and collaborating colleagues at Princeton University have developed a method to monitor blood damage in real-time.

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“Senotherapy,” a treatment that uses small molecule drugs to target “senescent” cells, or those cells that no longer undergo cell division, blunts liver tumor progression in animal models according to new research from a team led by Celeste Simon, PhD, a professor of Cell and Developmental Biology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and scientific director of the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute. The study was published in Nature Cell Biology.

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It seems like there will never be enough “thank you’s” for the incredible doctors, nurses technicians and support staff members who are working around the clock to help patients with this dangerous disease. It is their dedication, determination and spirit that allow Johns Hopkins to deliver the promise of medicine.

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When researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, used a combination of two specific blood-clotting tests, they found critically ill patients infected with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) who were at high risk for developing renal failure, venous blood clots, and other complications associated with blood clots, such as stroke.

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France and the United States have experienced a tremendous reduction in the number of organ donations and transplant procedures since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. By early April, transplant centers in both countries were conducting far fewer deceased donor transplants compared to just one month earlier, with the number of procedures dropping by 91 percent in France and 50 percent in the United States.

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Today, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) released the 2020 Guideline for the Management of Gout.

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• Among adults with kidney failure who were referred for transplantation, 60% of black and 66% of white patients were waitlisted within the first year. Differences in socioeconomic status and comorbidities between black and white patients could explain up to 58% of the disparity in listing. • Fewer black patients on transplant wait lists received transplants compared with white patients, but differences in socioeconomic status and comorbidities did not explain this disparity.

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During these difficult times, the Society of Toxicology’s official journal, Toxicological Sciences, remains a source for leading research in toxicology, including in the areas of biomarkers, carcinogenesis, and organ-specific toxicology.

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Regular consumption of sugary soda sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) reduces kidney blood flow, which could be linked to a greater risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to a recently published paper in the American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology.