Transplantation

Living in a remote or rural location does not seem to reduce access to kidney transplantation. Analyzing a median of 2 years' follow-up data from 699,751 US adults on renal replacement therapy, Tonelli et al. were surprised to find that those who lived far from transplantation centers were no less likely to receive a kidney than those who lived nearby.

Tonelli, M. et al. Access to kidney transplantation among remote- and rural-dwelling patients with kidney failure in the United States. JAMA 301, 1681–1690 (2009).

Anemia

The novel erythropoiesis-stimulating agent Hematide™ maintained stable hemoglobin levels for up to 2 years in 100 patients on hemodialysis, according to a post hoc subanalysis of two phase II trials. Dosed intravenously every 4 weeks to achieve a target hemoglobin level of 100–120 g/l, the pegylated peptide was associated with adverse events in only 7% of patients, although 19% of the cohort required transfusions.

Affymax Reports Phase 2 Sub-Analysis of Hematide™ in Hemodialysis Patients [online], (2009).

Transplantation

Donor–recipient body surface area ratio might be a valuable indicator of long-term graft survival in pediatric kidney transplant recipients. In a review of 156 deceased-donor transplantations, those in which donor–recipient body surface area ratio was ≥1.2 had greater 5-year graft survival (97.1% versus 82.0%) and lower rates of acute rejection (18.8% versus 35.7%) than those in which the ratio was ≤0.8.

Giuliani, S. et al. The effect of donor/recipient body surface area ratio on outcomes in pediatric kidney transplantation. Pediatr. Transplant. 13, 290–299 (2009).

Hypertension

The humble pea could delay or prevent hypertensive kidney damage, according to research presented at the American Chemical Society's 237th National Meeting. After 8 weeks of treatment with hydrolyzed proteins extracted from the yellow garden pea, rats with polycystic kidney disease exhibited a 30% increase in urine production and had blood pressure values 20% lower than those of untreated animals with the disease.

Medical News Today. Fighting hypertension, kidney disease with proteins from garden pea [online], (2009).