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The PIVOTAL trial shows that proactive intravenous (i.v.) iron administration reduces cardiovascular events and deaths, transfusions and erythropoiesis-stimulating agent doses and does not increase infections in patients on haemodialysis. These findings upend the warnings of guidelines and experts about the dangers of i.v. iron and prove that maintaining low iron stores is harmful.
A new study reports that human blood vessel organoids can be generated through the directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells. Use of these blood vessel organoids to model diabetic vasculopathy led to the identification of a new potential therapeutic target, suggesting that this system could have translational value for studies of diabetes complications.
A reduction in proteinuria and albuminuria has long been proposed as a surrogate biomarker for clinically validated end points for interventional trials in patients with kidney disease. Taken together, the findings of two recent landmark meta-analyses present a formidable argument favouring such surrogacy but some uncertainty remains.
The analyses in the 2017 Global Burden of Disease Study demonstrate the growing burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD), mainly driven by population ageing; absolute levels for every CKD metric considered rose significantly, whereas age-standardized rates were fairly stable. The prevalence of key metabolic CKD risk factors, particularly obesity, also show a worrying increase.
New findings demonstrate that endothelial nitric oxide synthase regulates major metabolic pathways in the kidney proximal tubule, which confers protection against oxidative stress during acute kidney injury (AKI). These findings give new insights into AKI pathophysiology and nitric oxide biology, and identify new targets for the treatment of AKI.
Scientists have long wondered how maternal diabetes, malnutrition and placental dysfunction impair fetal nephrogenesis. A new study discovered a link between prenatal metabolic stress and nephron deficit via dysregulation of DNA methylation — an epigenetic mechanism that is essential for the renewal and differentiation of nephron progenitors.
Peritoneal dialysis has many advantages over haemodialysis in the treatment of acute kidney injury (AKI) in low-resource settings. One limitation, however, is the availability of commercial dialysis fluid. Following the International Society of Peritoneal Dialysis AKI guidelines, a frontline hospital in Cameroon now shows that locally prepared fluids are safe and effective.
