Table of contents
July 2008 Volume 4 No 7
Editorial
Research Highlights
Long-term outcomes after small increases in serum creatinine during hospitalization
348Benefit from blood-pressure-lowering drugs is linked to urinary albumin level
348Kidney dysfunction predicts sudden cardiac death in women with coronary heart disease
348Diuretic versus CCB as second-line therapy in diabetic patients with hypertension
349ACE gene I/D polymorphism influences losartan responsiveness in diabetic nephropathy
349Clopidogrel 'ineffective' after percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with CKD
350Calcitriol has a modest antiproteinuric effect in IgA nephropathy
350Goal-directed plasma exchange is effective in biopsy-confirmed cast nephropathy
351A new safety device to detect bleeding from the venous puncture site during hemodialysis
351Gadolinium 'safer' than iodinated contrast for interventional renal angiography
351KDOQI PTH target associated with high risk of low-turnover bone disease in stage 5 CKD
352Hemodialysis access surveillance does not improve access outcomes
352Preventing rejection in sensitized kidney transplant recipients with donor-specific antibodies
353Practice Points
Malnutrition–Inflammation Score for risk stratification of patients with CKD: is it the promised gold standard?
354doi:10.1038/ncpneph0834 | Full Text | PDF (170K)
How should peritoneal-dialysis-associated peritonitis be treated?
356doi:10.1038/ncpneph0831 | Full Text | PDF (164K)
Safety and efficacy of influenza vaccination in renal transplant recipients
358doi:10.1038/ncpneph0830 | Full Text | PDF (162K)
Comparing early withdrawal or avoidance of steroids with standard steroid therapy in kidney transplant recipients
360doi:10.1038/ncpneph0822 | Full Text | PDF (162K)
Kidney injury molecule-1 as a biomarker of acute kidney injury in renal transplant recipients
362doi:10.1038/ncpneph0828 | Full Text | PDF (160K)
Viewpoints
Cinacalcet should not be used to treat secondary hyperparathyroidism in stage 3–4 chronic kidney disease
364In the first of two opposing Viewpoints, Daniel W Coyne questions the use of cinacalcet to treat secondary hyperparathyroidism in non-dialysis-dependent patients with chronic kidney disease. He highlights the absence of FDA approval and the lack of published data for cinacalcet in this setting. Cinacalcet does not, he argues, address a universal pathophysiologic feature of secondary hyperparathyroidism; in addition, it has considerable adverse effects.
doi:10.1038/ncpneph0821 | Full Text | PDF (166K)
Cinacalcet should be used to treat secondary hyperparathyroidism in stage 3–4 chronic kidney disease
366This, the second of two opposing Viewpoints, presents the case for the use of cinacalcet for the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism in patients with chronic kidney disease who are not receiving dialysis. The authors assert that cinacalcet effectively reduces serum parathyroid hormone level in this setting, and that any adverse effects of the drug on calcium or phosphorus levels can be managed by monitoring and treating patients accordingly.
doi:10.1038/ncpneph0832 | Full Text | PDF (168K)
Reviews
Oxalate in renal stone disease: the terminal metabolite that just won't go away
368During recent years, awareness has been growing that oxalate is more than simply a metabolic waste product. Evidence is mounting that oxalate affects normal physiology, especially in the kidney. Here, authors from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, OH, review the sources, excretion, and transport of oxalate, and examine the ways in which this molecule might contribute to nephrolithiasis.
doi:10.1038/ncpneph0845 | Full Text | PDF (422K)
Endogenous digitalis: pathophysiologic roles and therapeutic applications
378Interest in endogenous digitalis-like factors or 'cardiotonic steroids' has increased as a result of the identification of such factors in humans and the delineation of a mechanism by which these hormones signal through the sodium/potassium-transporting ATPase. The authors of this Review, who have both spent more than 20 years conducting research on this topic, examine the role of endogenous cardiotonic steroids in the pathophysiology of renal and cardiovascular disease. They also highlight potential therapeutic strategies involving modulation of cardiotonic steroids.
doi:10.1038/ncpneph0848 | Full Text | PDF (600K)
Case Studies
Rituximab treatment for a patient with type I cryoglobulinemic glomerulonephritis
393Renal involvement in type I cryoglobulinemia is uncommon, and management of such disease is difficult and remains poorly defined. Pandrangi and colleagues describe their experience of using rituximab—a chimeric anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody that selectively depletes CD20+ B cells—as a novel approach for treating the renal disease of a patient with type I cryoglobulinemia-associated glomerulonephritis.
doi:10.1038/ncpneph0823 | Full Text | PDF (392K)
A pulmonary mass caused by Rhodococcus equi infection in a renal transplant recipient
398Rhodococcus equi is an animal pathogen that sometimes causes opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients. Speck et al. present the case of a 62-year-old male renal transplant recipient who presented with fever, hemoptysis and left-sided pleuritic chest pain. After numerous investigations, a diagnosis of R. equi infection with bacteremic pleuropneumonia and pseudotumor was made. This Case Study describes the diagnosis and management of R. equi infection, which has a very varied clinical presentation in humans.
doi:10.1038/ncpneph0833 | Full Text | PDF (422K)
