• Kidney damage was linked with worse performance on tests of global cognitive function, executive function, memory, and attention. • Kidney damage may also be linked with structural abnormalities in the brain. • Research that uncovered these findings will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2016 November 15–20 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL.
On November 17, 2016, a Wayne State University doctoral student, Matthew Jasinski, will present results from his dissertation at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Nephrology in Chicago. The study demonstrates the value of proactive identification of and family psychoeducation about cognitive impairment in patients with End State Renal Disease or Chronic Kidney Disease (ESRD/CKD). A team from Henry Ford Hospital led by Mark Ketterer, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist in the Department of Behavioral Health Services, collaborated with Jasinski, a Wayne State Department of Psychology graduate student, and Mark Lumley, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Wayne State, to conduct a clinical trial that sought to reduce the number of 30-day hospital readmissions by educating patients with ESRD and their family members about the patient’s health needs.
Cooper will join Joseph Tector as co-director of UAB’s Xenotransplantation Program with their research geared toward using genetically modified pigs to facilitate kidney transplants in humans.
• In a recent analysis, approximately half of dialysis patients had advance directives, but only 3% specifically addressed dialysis management at the end of life. • Patients were far more likely to address other end-of-life interventions than dialysis in their advance directives.
• In patients with chronic kidney disease, dietary sodium restriction reduced albuminuria (an indicator of kidney dysfunction) and blood pressure, whereas paricalcitol (a vitamin D receptor activator) in itself had no significant effect on these measures. • The combination of paricalcitol and a low sodium diet resulted in the lowest albuminuria levels in patients.
• A telemedicine program that partners a national dialysis provider with a rural hospital in Kentucky can surmount traditional barriers to deliver kidney care to rural hospitals. • The program will be described at ASN Kidney Week 2016 November 15–20 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL.
A study finds that smoking or being overweight makes it more difficult for patients with rheumatoid arthritis to achieve optimal control of inflammation and symptoms, despite standard of care treatment.
A new bioinformatic framework developed by researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine has identified key proteins significantly altered at the gene-expression level in biopsied tissue from patients with diabetic kidney disease, a result that may reveal new therapeutic targets.
What: American Society of Nephrology Kidney Week Press Briefing When: Friday, November 18 at 9:45 a.m. CST Where: McCormick Place, Room W473 Embargoed until Saturday, November 19, at 10:30 CST (11:30 EST) Why: Briefing will feature presentations of High-Impact Clinical Trials. Dr. Pascale Lane and Dr. Gretchen Lehman Brandt will moderate and provide context and expert commentary on the science presented.
An experimental kidney cancer drug outperformed the standard first-line therapy for patients with metastatic disease who are considered at risk for poorer than average outcomes, according to results of a randomized phase II clinical trial by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Research published by a Houston Methodist team led by John Cooke, M.D., Ph.D., received high accolades at this year’s American Heart Association Scientific Sessions.
Allopurinol, a widely used treatment for lowering serum urate levels, does not appear to increase risk of kidney deterioration in gout patients with normal or near-normal kidney function, according to new research findings presented this week at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington.
Chronic kidney disease patients who take urate-lowering therapy and achieve target urate levels show improvement in kidney function, according to new research findings presented this week at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington.
• Individuals with constipation had a 13% higher likelihood of developing chronic kidney disease and a 9% higher likelihood of developing kidney failure compared with individuals without constipation. • More severe constipation was linked with an incrementally higher risk for both chronic kidney disease and kidney failure.
For the first time, scientists have prevented urinary tract infections in mice by vaccinating them with tiny molecules that UTI bacteria usually use to grab iron from their host and fuel the growth of bacteria in the bladder.
The American Society of Nephrology (ASN), the world’s largest organization of kidney health professionals, released the latest analysis of the US adult nephrology workforce authored by George Washington University (GWU) researchers. • GWU’s report details a mixed picture for the specialty. The job market for US medical graduates is improving, yet the inflow of new nephrologists is outpacing the rate of retirement for older physicians. GWU projects a 58% increase in the ratio of adult nephrologists per 10,000 population between now and 2030.
• New research suggests that transmembrane TNF-alpha may allow HIV to infect kidney cells that not express the major HIV-1 CD4 receptor. The findings could provide insights on how patients develop HIV-1 associated nephropathy.
Mayo Clinic nephrologists have uncovered a connection between first-time kidney stone formers and chronic kidney disease. In a paper published today in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, researchers announce a persistent decline in kidney functioning following an individual’s first case of kidney stones.
Inflammation is one of the main reasons why people with diabetes experience heart attacks, strokes, kidney problems and other, related complications. Now, in a surprise finding, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered, in mice, that when certain immune cells can’t manufacture fat, the mice don’t develop diabetes and inflammation, even when consuming a high-fat diet.
Novel biomedical research uncovers tie between genetic variant and energy expenditure – a potential biological pathway to increase calorie burn and weight loss
A study by University at Buffalo researchers has shown that physicians in pediatric intensive care units are not using the newest guidelines to diagnose acute kidney injury (AKI) in critically ill children, a practice that could affect their patients’ long-term health.
Four years ago, Merlinda Chelette was a hardworking ER nurse who suffered from excruciating back pain. When it became too painful to bear, she initially sought chiropractic care, but the pain got worse.
• Women are more likely than men to develop kidney damage following cardiovascular surgery, but researchers found no association between sex and risk of kidney damage when they analyzed studies that took patient characteristics and other factors into account.
DETROIT – Many diabetes patients require continuous or on-demand insulin therapy to manage their disease. Insulin pump therapy offers them more predictable, rapid-acting insulin, providing a more active and normal lifestyle. Over time, foreign body reaction (FBR) occurs to nearly all devices implanted in the body, resulting in fibrotic tissue depositing around the implant surface, a decrease in blood supply around the implant, and a decrease in the molecular transport to the implant. This results in the need to replace the implant. A team of Wayne State University researchers are developing a novel material formulation to be applied to the surfaces of most implantable devices that will aid in resisting FBR and improve the long-term use of devices.
• Factors secreted by Oxalobacter formigenes, a bacterium that lives in the large intestine, can reduce urinary excretion of oxalate in mice. Such factors may therefore help prevent or treat kidney stones.
• In analyses of adults who initiated hemodialysis between 2004 and 2012, death rates in patients who had an arteriovenous fistula created prior to starting dialysis were lower than rates in patients who started dialysis using a catheter. • Use of a fistula was associated with a lower risk of death in patients <65 years old, but not in patients aged ≥65 years. • Only 2.3% of deaths were related to complications of vascular access.
African ancestry contributes to the risk of chronic kidney disease among some Hispanic/Latino adults, according to a study co-authored by Loyola University Chicago researchers.
• A new analysis indicates that radiocontrast, which is commonly used during imaging tests, may be less hazardous to the kidneys than previously thought. • Among nearly 6 million hospitalized patients, those who received radiocontrast did not develop acute kidney injury at a clinically significant higher rate than other patients.
The Nephrologists Transforming Dialysis Safety (NTDS) Project aims to safeguard dialysis patients from potentially deadly infections. The American Society of Nephrology is partnering with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to implement the project. More than 450,000 kidney failure patients in the United States are being treated with dialysis.
• In a study of VA patients with kidney failure, the overwhelming majority (85.5%) of patients had either received, or were preparing to receive, renal replacement therapy. • Even among members of the oldest age group (≥85 years) with the highest burden of comorbidity, most (51.2%) received or were preparing to receive renal replacement therapy.
• A new review examines how anxiety may affect the health and care of patients with kidney failure who are undergoing hemodialysis.
Cystinosis is a rare disease that usually strikes children before they are two years old and can lead to end stage kidney failure before their tenth birthday. Current treatments are limited, which is why the CIRM Board today approved $5.2 million for research that holds the possibility of a safe, effective, one-time life-long treatment.
Researchers use hospital emergency room data from around the country to document emergence of E. coli strain that fights medication. They recommend development of new antibiotics and treatment guidelines.
The world’s largest gathering of kidney health professionals will join forces in Chicago from November 15–20, 2016, to discuss research discoveries and how to move them from bench to bedside during the American Society of Nephrology’s Kidney Week 2016.
Researchers from Thomas Jefferson University analyzed data from thousands of transplants and developed a scoring system for donor kidneys that they hope might expand the pool of available organs in two ways. They published their findings in the Annals of Transplantation.
Patients who need a kidney transplant may have new hope, through an innovative Penn Medicine clinical trial using kidneys from deceased donors who had the Hepatitis C virus (HCV). The first study participant received a kidney transplant in July 2016, and after being treated with a full regimen of Zepatier – a recently-approved oral medication prescribed to eradicate HCV – her doctors announced today that there is no evidence of the virus in her blood.
In a first-of-its-kind look at human kidney development, researchers at The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles have isolated human nephron progenitor (NP) cells. Their results may offer a future way to foster renal regeneration after chronic kidney failure or acute injury.
• A newly developed compound inhibits the deleterious effects of high blood sugar on kidney cells and slows the progression of kidney disease in diabetic mice. • The compound protects the kidneys in both early and advanced phases of diabetes, and it reduces expression of genes associated with kidney inflammation and scarring.
Scientists have implicated a type of stem cell in the calcification of blood vessels that is common in patients with chronic kidney disease. The research will guide future studies into ways to block minerals from building up inside blood vessels and exacerbating atherosclerosis, the hardening of the arteries.
A new class of drugs called HIF-2 inhibitors is more effective and better tolerated than the standard of care drug sunitinib in treating kidney cancer, researchers with the Kidney Cancer Program at Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center have found.
• Most prior living kidney donors in the United States who later need a transplant receive one quickly, but some are not readily given the priority they were promised when they donated.
Starting dialysis treatment for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) should be a shared decision made by an informed patient based on discussions with a physician and family members. However, many older dialysis patients say they feel voiceless in the decision-making process and are unaware of more conservative management approaches that could help them avoid initiating a treatment that reduces their quality of life, according to a study led by Tufts University researchers.
There’s yet another reason to maintain a healthy weight as we age. An international team of researchers has identified eight additional types of cancer linked to excess weight and obesity: stomach, liver, gall bladder, pancreas, ovary, meningioma (a type of brain tumor), thyroid cancer and the blood cancer multiple myeloma.
• In a clinical trial of patients with type 2 diabetes, canagliflozin (a sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor) slowed kidney function decline to a greater extent than glimepiride (a sulfonylurea), while having similar blood sugar–lowering effects.
A new study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation shows that when kidneys fail, urea that builds up in the blood can cause diabetes.
• In a large study of male veterans, both low and high HDL cholesterol levels were associated with higher risks of dying compared with intermediate levels, forming a U-shaped curve. • The beneficial properties of HDL cholesterol were attenuated, but remained significant, in the presence of kidney disease.
• In long-term analyses of 2 clinical trials that included patients with chronic kidney disease, a lower blood pressure target than the currently guideline-recommended goal of 140/90 mm Hg was safe and associated with protection against premature death
A UAB urologist has led the development of extensive guidelines of surgical management of kidney stones.
Among U.S. adults with diabetes from 1988 to 2014, the overall prevalence of diabetic kidney disease did not change significantly, while the prevalence of albuminuria declined and the prevalence of reduced estimated glomerular filtration rate increased, according to a study appearing in the August 9 issue of JAMA.
People who ate a diet high in nuts and legumes, low-fat dairy, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables and low in red and processed meat, sugar-sweetened beverages and sodium were at a significantly lower risk of developing chronic kidney disease over the course of more than two decades, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research suggests.
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