Obesity

Obesity-related glomerulopathy: body mass index and proteinuria Shen, W. et al. Clin. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 5, 1401–1409 (2010)

Data on treatments for obesity-related glomerulopathy (ORG), which can cause end-stage renal disease, are lacking. Shen et al. have now shown that weight loss programs (involving food and exercise interventions) successfully reduce levels of proteinuria in patients with ORG. After 24 months of follow-up, 27 of 67 patients achieved a 9.2% reduction in their BMI, which correlated with a 51.3% decrease in urine protein secretion.

Diabetes

Survival of patients with type I diabetes receiving renal replacement therapy in 1980–2007 Haapio, M. et al. Diabetes Care 33, 1718–1723 (2010)

Survival of patients on renal replacement therapy (RRT) has improved since the 1980s, according to new research. Haapio and colleagues followed a cohort of 1,604 patients with type 1 diabetes who initiated RRT in Finland between 1980 and 2005 until death or until end of follow-up in 2007. The median survival of these patients doubled during follow-up: from 3.6 years in 1980–1984 to >8 years in 2000–2005.

Polycystic kidney disease

Inhibition of glucosylceramide accumulation results in effective blockade of polycystic kidney disease in mouse models Natoli, T. A. et al. Nat. Med. 16, 788–792 (2010)

Findings from a study that investigated the therapeutic potential of modulating sphingolipids to treat polycystic kidney disease (PKD) indicate that glucosylceramide inhibition could be a new therapy for PKD. Levels of kidney glucosylceramide and ganglioside GM3 were found to be higher in human and mouse PKD tissue than in normal tissue, and glucosylceramide blockade successfully inhibited the formation of cysts in mouse models of PKD and nephronophthisis.

Dialysis

Dietary potassium intake and mortality in long-term hemodialysis patients Noori, N. et al. Am. J. Kidney Dis. 56, 338–347 (2010)

Noori and colleagues have found that a high intake of dietary potassium is associated with an increased risk of death in patients on long-term hemodialysis. This association remained even after adjusting for parameters such as serum potassium level, dietary protein, and nutritional and inflammatory markers. The investigators conclude that clinical trials are needed to clarify the role of dietary potassium on outcomes in patients on hemodialysis.