The problem of pregnancy complicated by chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) in high-risk pregnancies is a challenge for multidisciplinary teams of doctors. Due to the fact that the disease affects both the mother and the fetus, and the course of the pregnancy. The following article reviews the literature about the interaction between pregnancy and CKD and dialysis therapy. Even pregnancy itself can lead to a worsening of kidney dysfunction. The risk of this consequence increases with the degree of renal failure, therefore renal parameters and other pregnancy test results should be monitored. On the other hand, the most common complications of chronic kidney disease in pregnancy described in the literature include pre-eclampsia, preterm labor, intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) or low birth weight, surgical delivery by caesarean section and miscarriage. Dialysis therapy also leads to abnormalities in the course of pregnancy, and patients require constant monitoring during its course. Attention is also drawn to the high percentage of newborns requiring intensive postpartum care. Due to the risk for the fetus and mother mentioned in the article, nephrologists and gynecologists should cooperate closely from the pre-contraceptive period in order to reduce the risk of sequelae and better control of the underlying disease

Aristolochic acid nephropathy - still real danger

Arystolocholic acid nephropathy is chronic kidney disease caused by the use of substances of natural origin that contain arystolocholic acid. The effects of their use are arystolochic acid nephropathies, which include "Chinese Herbs" nephropathy. The course of the disease is very fast, resulting in progression to end-stage renal disease, and in the future it results in the development of urinary tract cancer. That is why it is so important to recognize it early and start treatment. However, due to disease progression, some patients require dialysis and even kidney transplantation. Although the World Health Organization is trying to stop the spread of the use of harmful substances, there are still reports of this nephropathy appearing in some populations. Despite warnings from the Food and Drug Administration regarding the safety of botanicals containing arystolochic acid and its classification as a human carcinogen, products containing it are still available for purchase online. The purpose of the literature review below is to analyze the latest knowledge on aristolochic acid nephropathy and its associated complication

The Carboxyl-Terminal Segment of Apolipoprotein A-V Undergoes a Lipid-Induced Conformational Change

Apolipoprotein (apo) A-V is a 343-residue, multidomain protein that plays an important role in regulation of plasma triglyceride homeostasis. Primary sequence analysis revealed a unique tetraproline sequence (Pro293-Pro296) near the carboxyl terminus of the protein. A peptide corresponding to the 48-residue segment beyond the tetraproline motif was generated from a recombinant apoA-V precursor wherein Pro295 was replaced by Met. Cyanogen bromide cleavage of the precursor protein, followed by negative affinity chromatography, yielded a purified peptide. Nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis verified that apoA-V(296-343) solubilizes phospholipid vesicles, forming a relatively heterogeneous population of reconstituted high-density lipoprotein with Stokes’ diameters\u3e17 nm. At the same time, apoA-V(296-343) failed to bind a spherical lipoprotein substrate in vitro. Far-UV circular dichroism spectroscopy revealed the peptide is unstructured in buffer yet adopts significant R-helical secondary structure in the presence of the lipid mimetic solvent trifluoroethanol (TFE; 50% v/v). Heteronuclear multidemensional NMR spectroscopy experiments were conducted with uniformly 15N- and 15N/13C-labeled peptide in 50% TFE. Peptide backbone assignment and secondary structure prediction using TALOSþ reveal the peptide adopts R-helix secondary structure from residues 309 to 334. In TFE, apoA-V(296-343) adopts an extended amphipathic R-helix, consistent with a role in lipoprotein binding as a component of full-length apoA-V

What does the future look like - home hemodialysis

Home hemodialysis (HHD) is a discovery from 1961 that is now experiencing a revival. It is a convenient and modern method of renal replacement therapy that allows the patient to undergo hemodialysis sessions at home. Due to the growing interest in home hemodialysis, we decided to present the potential of this renal replacement method, show both its benefits and complications resulting from its use. Undoubtedly, HHD has many benefits resulting mainly from the possibility of regulating the duration of the sessions and increasing their frequency. However, this method is also burdened with numerous complications. There are training courses in the use of HHD for patients who have just been diagnosed with end-stage renal disease as well as for patients undergoing dialysis using other methods. Appropriate patient selection is an important factor for the success of home therapy. There is a fierce battle in the home hemodialysis machine market. Manufacturers are outdoing each other in innovative technologies to ensure ease of use, trouble-free operation and minimize complications. The costs of home hemodialysis include more components than the dialysis treatment itself. Home hemodialysis gives patients comfort and independence above all. This is part of nephrology that undoubtedly requires a lot of work and development, but is certainly an invention of the 21st century

Exact renormalization group equations and the field theoretical approach to critical phenomena

After a brief presentation of the exact renormalization group equation, we illustrate how the field theoretical (perturbative) approach to critical phenomena takes place in the more general Wilson (nonperturbative) approach. Notions such as the continuum limit and the renormalizability and the presence of singularities in the perturbative series are discussed.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, to appear in the Proceedings of the 2nd Conference on the Exact Renormalization Group, Rome 200

Populations of doubled haploids for genetic mapping in hexaploid winter triticale.

To create a framework for genetic dissection of hexaploid triticale, six populations of doubled haploid (DH) lines were developed from pairwise hybrids of high-yielding winter triticale cultivars. The six populations comprise between 97 and 231 genotyped DH lines each, totaling 957 DH lines. A consensus genetic map spans 4593.9 cM is composed of 1576 unique DArT markers. The maps reveal several structural rearrangements in triticale genomes. In preliminary tests of the populations and maps, markers specific to wheat segments of the engineered rye chromosome 1R (RM1B) were identified. Example QTL mapping of days to heading in cv. Krakowiak revealed loci on chromosomes 2BL and 2R responsible for extended vernalization requirement, and candidate genes were identified. The material is available to all parties interested in triticale genetics

Poród a schorzenia narządu wzroku

There are many controversies among ophthalmologists and obstetricians regarding indications for caesarean section due to preexisting eye diseases. Many ophthalmologists still believe myopia, retinal detachment, glaucoma or diabetic retinopathy to be indications for a caesarean section. There is a discrepancy between clinical practice and evidence-based medicine, as none of the published trials have reported any retinal changes after vaginal delivery. This report provides information on the infl uence of physiological changes on eye diseases during the fi nal stage of the delivery. We conclude that an eye disease is not an indication for a caesarean section.Wskazania do skrócenia drugiego okresu porodu z powodu współistniejących schorzeń okulistycznych stanowią wciąż źródło wielu kontrowersji zarówno wśród okulistów, jak i ginekologów. Schorzenia narządu wzroku, takie jak: krótkowzroczność, odwarstwienie siatkówki, retinopatia cukrzycowa oraz jaskra są nadal uważane przez wielu okulistów za wskazanie do cięcia cesarskiego. Istnieje rozbieżność pomiędzy praktyką kliniczną a doniesieniami naukowymi, nie istnieją bowiem żadne udokumentowane publikacjami badania potwierdzające pogorszenie stanu narządu wzroku będące wynikiem porodu siłami natury. Niniejsza praca przedstawia zmiany fizjologiczne zachodzące w oku podczas końcowych etapów porodu. Wnioskujemy, że choroby narządy wzroku nie są wskazaniem do cięcia cesarskiego

Triality in QCD at Zero and Finite Temperature: A New Direction

Discrete symmetries in grand canonical ensembles and in ensembles canonical with respect to triality are investigated. We speculate about the general phase structure of finite temperature gauge theories with discrete $Z(N)$ symmetry. Low and high temperature phases turn out to be different in both ensembles even for infinite systems. It is argued that gauge theories with matter fields in the fundamental representation should be treated in ensembles canonical with respect to triality if one wants to avoid unphysical predictions. Further, we discuss as a physical consequence of such a treatment the impossibility of the existence of metastable phases in the quark-gluon plasma.Comment: 15 pages, latex, no figures, to appear in Nucl.Phys.

Renormalization Group Flow Equations and the Phase Transition in O(N)-models

We derive and solve flow equations for a general O(N)-symmetric effective potential including wavefunction renormalization corrections combined with a heat-kernel regularization. We investigate the model at finite temperature and study the nature of the phase transition in detail. Beta functions, fixed points and critical exponents \beta, \nu, \delta and \eta for various N are independently calculated which allow for a verification of universal scaling relations.Comment: 34 pages, 3 tables, 11 postscript figures, LaTe