Preterm Birth, Kidney Function and Cardiovascular Disease in Children and Adolescents

Over recent decades, there has been a global increase in preterm birth rate, which constitutes about 11% of total births worldwide. The present review aims to summarize the current knowledge on the long-term consequences of prematurity on renal and cardiovascular development and function. Recent literature supports that prematurity, intrauterine growth restriction or low birth weight (LBW) may have an adverse impact on the development of multiple organ systems, predisposing to chronic diseases in childhood and adulthood, such as arterial hypertension and chronic kidney disease. According to human autopsy and epidemiological studies, children born preterm have a lower nephron number, decreased kidney size and, in some cases, affected renal function. The origin of hypertension in children and adults born preterm seems to be multifactorial as a result of alterations in renal, cardiac and vascular development and function. The majority of the studies report increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) in individuals born preterm compared to full term. The early prevention and detection of chronic non-communicable diseases, which start from childhood and track until adulthood in children with a history of prematurity or LBW, are important

Early vascular aging and the role of central blood pressure.

Vascular aging is described as a gradual process involving biochemical, enzymatic, and cellular changes of the vasculature and modification of the signals that modulate them. On the basis of this conception a new pathophysiological model for deeper understanding of cardiovascular risk and its treatment was introduced. The idea of early vascular aging, that is the acceleration of vascular aging seems to be a promising tool for clinical guidance in individuals at increased cardiovascular risk or a strong family history of early cardiovascular manifestations. Increased arterial stiffness, dilation of central elastic arteries, impaired endothelial function and vasodilatation are dominant aspects of this premature process

Novel antimicrobial agents against multi-drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria: an overview

No novel antimicrobial agents against multi-drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria have been available to daily clinical practice during the last 5 years. On the other hand, resistance rates and mechanisms of those pathogens are increasing worldwide. Pan-resistant (against which none of the currently available antibiotics is effective) strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa have been described. Encouraging is the fact that several novel compounds (some of them with mechanisms of action different to those of the antibiotics commercially available) are through the development stages. We summarize the main such compounds that show potential for offering solution to the treatment of Gram-negative multi-resistant bacteria along with the discussion of some patents associated with the topic