Body Mass Index and Glomerular Hyperfiltration in Renal Transplant Recipients: Cross-Sectional Analysis and Long-Term Impact

Obesity is a risk factor for renal graft loss. Higher body mass index (BMI) in native kidneys is associated with glomerular hyperfiltration. Whether higher BMI in renal transplants is associated with hyperfiltration is unknown. We investigated the impact of BMI on renal hemodynamics 1 year post-transplant. We analyzed glomerular filtration rate (GFR, (125)I-iothalamate) and effective renal plasma flow (ERPF, (131)I-hippurate) in 838 kidney transplants. Data were analyzed for all patients and for the subpopulation without diabetes. Long-term impact of BMI and renal hemodynamics were explored by Cox-regression. With higher BMI GFR and filtration fraction (FF) increased significantly. Multivariate analysis supported impact of BMI on GFR (adjusted r(2) of the model 0.275) and FF (adjusted r(2) of the model 0.158). This association was not explained by diabetes mellitus. On Cox-regression analysis, lower GFR and higher FF were independent determinants of overall graft loss and graft loss by patient mortality. Lower GFR and higher BMI were determinants of death-censored graft loss, with borderline contribution of higher FF. In renal transplants higher BMI is independently associated with higher GFR and FF one year posttransplant, suggesting glomerular hyperfiltration with altered afferent-efferent balance. Mechanisms underlying the long-term prognostic impact of hyperfiltration deserve further exploration.     

Berufsbedingte Latexallergie

Trauma und Berufskrankheit - Die Vermeidung gepuderter Latexhandschuhe gilt als wichtige Maßnahme zur Prävention von latexbedingten Haut- und Atemwegsallergien bei Beschäftigten im...     

Intracardiac transplantation of a mixed population of bone marrow cells improves both regional systolic contractility and diastolic relaxation.

BACKGROUND: Pre-clinical and clinical studies suggest that transplantation of bone marrow-derived stem cells can improve global cardiac function. However, no quantitative assessment of regional systolic contraction and correlation with phenotype has been made. Therefore, we used our model of cryoinfarcted rabbit myocardium for intracardiac transplantation of a mixed population of bone marrow-derived cells and assessed both regional function and myogenic conversion of the cells. METHODS: Nineteen New Zealand white rabbits underwent cryoinjury of the left ventricle. Autologous bone marrow (BM) cells were expanded in vitro. After 2 weeks, either 1 x 10(8) mixed BM-derived progenitor cells (BM group, n = 11) or vehicle (control group, n = 8) were injected into the cryoinjured region. Regional systolic function was measured using micromanometry and sonomicrometry before and 4 weeks after cell injection; cell phenotype was evaluated histologically. RESULTS: All animals in the BM group significantly improved both systolic shortening (0.11 +/- 0.7 vs -0.05 +/- 0.05 mm in the control group, p < 0.05) and regional stroke work when compared with control (9.6 +/- 2.4 vs -1.2 +/- 1.2 mm . mm Hg, p < 0.003). In addition, the BM group had improved global diastolic function, as measured by minimum dP/dt and end-diastolic pressure. On histologic assessment, BM cells differentiated toward a myogenic phenotype. CONCLUSIONS: Transplanting a mixed population of marrow-derived cells that can adopt a myogenic phenotype improves regional contractility and diastolic relaxation after myocardial infarction.     

Contributions of ovarian failure and aging to blood pressure in normotensive perimenopausal women: a mixed longitudinal study

Epidemiologic studies have shown that blood pressure increases more rapidly in middle-aged women than in middle-aged men. Whether or not ovarian failure contributes to this rapid rise is still not clear. In a follow-up study begun in 1979 and to continue for 10 years, the blood pressure of 193 healthy normotensive perimenopausal women, who lived in the mixed rural/industrial community of Ede, the Netherlands and who were initially aged between 49 and 56 years, was measured annually. During the course of the study, the onset of menopause of each participant could be established. Because of the mixed longitudinal design of the study, it was possible to evaluate the effects of both chronologic aging and time pre- or postmenopause on blood pressure. After the first seven years of follow-up, it was demonstrated that blood pressure did not increase in 168 women whose body weight was relatively stable. After multivariate analyses, systolic as well as diastolic pressure showed a significant negative relation (slope, 1.34 mmHg per year and 0.63 mmHg per year, respectively) with the years since menopause. On the other hand, the observed positive relation (slope, 0.81 mmHg per year) of systolic pressure with chronologic aging was not significant. No consistent association was found between diastolic pressure and chronologic aging. It is concluded that menopause cannot be regarded as a cause of hypertension; on the contrary, ovarian failure appears to have a protective effect on the increase in blood pressure as a result of chronologic aging. on the increase in blood pressure as a result of chronologic aging.     

Small proportions: what to report for confidence intervals?

The original article to which this Erratum refers was published in Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety 2005; 14: 239–247.     

The relevance of therapeutic drug monitoring in plasma and erythrocytes in anti-cancer drug treatment.

Therapeutic drug monitoring generally focuses on the plasma compartment only. Differentiation between the total plasma concentration and the free fraction (plasma water) has been described for a number of limited drugs. Besides the plasma compartment, blood has also a cellular fraction which has by far the largest theoretical surface and volume for drug transport. It is with anti-cancer drugs that major progress has been made in the study of partition between the largest cellular blood compartment, i.e., erythrocytes, and the plasma compartment. The aim of the present review is to detail the progress made in predicting what a drug does in the body, i.e., pharmacodynamics including toxicity and plasma and/or red blood cell concentration monitoring. Furthermore, techniques generally used in anti-cancer drug monitoring are highlighted. Data for complex Bayesian statistical approaches and population kinetics studies are beyond the scope of this review, since this is generally limited to the plasma compartment only.