Design and baseline characteristics of the finerenone in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in diabetic kidney disease trial

Background: Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials. Patients and Methods: The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 25 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio >= 30 to <= 5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level alpha = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure. Conclusions: FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen. Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049

Management of Potato virus Y (PVY–NTN) causing PTNRD disease in potato by prior treatment with a mild PVY strain

Potato virus Y (PVY) is one of the most destructive viruses infecting potato in Egypt and worldwide. Recent research has shown that a necrotic PVY-NTN strain is infecting potato in Upper Egypt. Chemical control is not effective to control this viral pathogen. An alternative to control PVY infecting potato is using a mild PVY strain to elicit systemic cross protection in potato plants against infection with a severe necrotic strain of PVY. Results of this study showed that a PVY necrotic strain produced a significant lesser number of local lesions on diagnostic plants (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) when these plants were treated first with a mild PVY strain. Data obtained from greenhouse and field experiments indicated that treatment of potato plants (variety Burna) with a mild PVY strain significantly protected potato from infection with a severe necrotic PVY strain, and resulted in a significant increase in tuber yield compared with infected plants without prior treatment with a mild PVY strain. The highest increase in potato tuber yield was obtained when potato plants were inoculated with a mild PVY strain 3 days before challenging with the severe necrotic PVY strain. This study proved that using a mild strain of PVY can significantly protect potato plants from infection with a severe strain of this virus under both greenhouse and field conditions and can present a potential method to reduce losses due to infection of this virus in Assiut governorate and Upper Egypt