Impact of pre-transplant time on dialysis on survival in patients with lupus nephritis

Lupus nephritis (LN) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) often leading to end-stage renal failure (ESRF) and necessitating renal transplantation (rTp). Optimal timing of rTp in SLE patients with ESRF is uncertain and could potentially affect survival. We investigated the time spent on dialysis before rTp and survival following rTp in a cohort of SLE patients. Retrospective analysis of all adult SLE patients receiving rTp over a 40-year period (1975–2015) in two tertiary UK centres. Cox proportional hazard regression and receiver operator curves (ROC) were used to determine the risk associated with time on dialysis before rTp and other potential predictors. Forty patients (age 35 ± 11 years, 34 female, 15 Caucasian, 15 Afro–Caribbean and 10 South Asian) underwent rTp. During a median follow-up of 104 months (IQR 80,145), eight (20%) patients died and the 5-year survival was 95%. Univariate analysis identified time on dialysis prior to rTp as the only potentially modifiable risk predictor of survival with a hazard ratio of 1.013 for each additional month spent on dialysis (95% CI = 1.001–1.026, p = 0.03). ROC curves demonstrated that > 24 months on dialysis had an adverse effect with sensitivity of 0.875 and specificity 0.500 for death. No other modifiable predictors were significantly associated with mortality, indicating that time on dialysis had an independent effect. Increased time on dialysis pre-transplantation is an independent modifiable risk factor of mortality in this cohort of patients with lupus nephritis

Genetic control of Eucalyptus urophylla and E. grandis resistance to canker caused by Chrysoporthe cubensis

Chrysophorte cubensis induced canker occurs in nearly all tropical and subtropical regions where eucalypts are planted, causing losses in both wood quality and volume productivity, especially so in the warmer and more humid regions of Brazil. The wide inter and intra-specific genetic variability of resistance to canker among Eucalyptus species facilitates the selection of resistant plants. In this study, we evaluated resistance to this pathogen in five Eucalyptus grandis (G) and 15 E. urophylla (U) trees, as well as in 495 individuals from 27 progenies derived from crosses between the trees. In the field, six-months-old test seedlings were inoculated with C. cubensis. Lesion length in the xylem and bark was measured eight months later. The results demonstrated that xylem lesions could preferentially be used for the selection of resistant clones. Eight trees (7 U and 1 G) were susceptible, and the remainder (8 U and 4 G) resistant. Individual narrow and broad sense heritability estimates were 17 and 81%, respectively, thereby suggesting that canker resistance is quantitative and highly dependent on dominance and epistasis

Improved Canine and Human Visceral Leishmaniasis Immunodiagnosis Using Combinations of Synthetic Peptides in Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay

Visceral leishmaniasis is endemic in many areas of tropical and subtropical America where it constitutes a significant public health problem. It is usually diagnosed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) using crude Leishmania antigens, but a variety of other immunological methods may also be applied. Although these approaches are useful, historically their sensitivity and specificity have often been compromised by the use of complex mixtures of antigens. In this context, the use of combinations of purified, well-characterized antigens appears preferable and may yield better results. In the present study, combinations of peptides derived from the previously described Leishmania diagnostic antigens A2, NH, LACK and K39 were used in ELISA against sera from 106 dogs and 44 human patients. Improved sensitivities and specificities, close to 100%, for both sera of patients and dogs was observed for ELISA using some combinations of the peptides, including the detection of VL in dogs with low anti-Leishmania antibody titers and asymptomatic infection. So, the use of combinations of B cell predicted synthetic peptides derived from antigens A2, NH, LACK and K39 may provide an alternative for improved sensitivities and specificities for immunodiagnostic assays of VL