Inflammatory Determinants and Associated Morbidity in Hemodialysis Patients

Hemodialysis deteriorates patients’ physical, metabolic, and mental status. Clinical outcomes derived from inflammation determine a worse status but are less frequently identified. The objective of the study was to identify inflammatory determinants and the effect of SNP-related serum IL-6 and IL-10 levels on associated morbidity in hemodialysis. A sample of hemodialysis patients at IMSS Regional Hospital No.46 in Guadalajara (n = 85) were tested using the Malnutrition Inflammation Score (MIS) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) to assess the associated morbidity. Serum cytokine levels were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) technique was used for analysis of IL-6-572C/G and IL-10-1082A/G. Using data visualization methods, we identified relevant determinants of inflammation. A simple regression model was constructed between predictors and targets with genotypes as covariates. Results showed malnutrition in 85.9% of patients and depressive symptoms in 50.6%. IL-10 was the most relevant inflammatory determinant, with regression coefficients (R2) between 0.05 and 0.11. The GG genotype of IL-10-1082 A/G evinced small effect on both clinical outcomes (δ of 0.35 and 0.37, respectively). Hemodialysis increases the associated morbidity, cytokines act as inflammatory determinants, and genetic variability contributes to the severity of clinical outcomes. Further studies need to refine the causal relationship between inflammation and CKD

Association of Country Income Level With the Characteristics and Outcomes of Critically Ill Patients Hospitalized With Acute Kidney Injury and COVID-19

Introduction: Acute kidney injury (AKI) has been identified as one of the most common and significant problems in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. However, studies examining the relationship between COVID-19 and AKI in low- and low-middle income countries (LLMIC) are lacking. Given that AKI is known to carry a higher mortality rate in these countries, it is important to understand differences in this population. Methods: This prospective, observational study examines the AKI incidence and characteristics of 32,210 patients with COVID-19 from 49 countries across all income levels who were admitted to an intensive care unit during their hospital stay. Results: Among patients with COVID-19 admitted to the intensive care unit, AKI incidence was highest in patients in LLMIC, followed by patients in upper-middle income countries (UMIC) and high-income countries (HIC) (53%, 38%, and 30%, respectively), whereas dialysis rates were lowest among patients with AKI from LLMIC and highest among those from HIC (27% vs. 45%). Patients with AKI in LLMIC had the largest proportion of community-acquired AKI (CA-AKI) and highest rate of in-hospital death (79% vs. 54% in HIC and 66% in UMIC). The association between AKI, being from LLMIC and in-hospital death persisted even after adjusting for disease severity. Conclusions: AKI is a particularly devastating complication of COVID-19 among patients from poorer nations where the gaps in accessibility and quality of healthcare delivery have a major impact on patient outcomes