Is chronic kidney disease-mineral bone disorder (CKD-MBD) really a syndrome?

The concept of chronic kidney disease-mineral bone disorder (CKD-MBD) does not appear to fulfil the requirements for a syndrome at first glance, but its definition has brought some clear-cut benefits for clinicians and patients, including wider and more complex diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to the management of this challenging set of issues. Admittedly, not all components of CKD-MBD are present in all patients at all times, but these are highly interrelated, involving mineral and bone laboratory abnormalities, clinical and histological bone disease and finally, cardiovascular disease. The presence of typical biological bone ossification processes in an ectopic anatomical location in CKD has helped to define the existence of an unprecedented bone-vascular relationship, extending its interest even to other medical specialities. For now, we believe that CKD-MBD does not reach full criteria to be defined as a syndrome. However, this novel concept has clearly influenced current clinical guidelines. The National Kidney Foundation Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (NKF/KDOQI\u2122) guidelines in 2003 for instance recommended that calcium-based phosphate binders should be avoided to treat hyperphosphataemia in the presence of cardiovascular calcifications. In 2009, the KDIGO and other guidelines reinforced and extended this recommendation by stating that it is reasonable to choose oral phosphate binder therapy by taking into consideration other components of CKD-MBD. Similarly, it is also considered reasonable to use information on vascular/valvular calcification to guide the management of CKD-MBD. Our current assumption as a working group 'CKD-MBD' is that CKD-MBD has the potential to be defined a true syndrome, such as a constellation of concurrent signs and symptoms that suggest a common underlying mechanism for these components as opposed to the term disease. The term 'syndrome' also implies that in any patient at risk due to the presence of one or a few components of the entire syndrome, the screening for additional components is highly recommended. However, it has not currently been demonstrated that there is an additive predictive value, which can be derived from identifying individual components. Despite all we have learned about this putative syndrome, we have been left with only a hypothetical framework about how to treat patients. So while we agree that the concept of CKD-MBD has influenced, and continues to influence, our current clinical hypotheses, definitive proof of a benefit of interventions in CKD-MBD is still lacking and a global-multiple therapeutic approach to treat simultaneously several components of CKD-MBD should be tested by well-designed new randomized controlled trials

The association between longer haemodialysis treatment times and hospitalization and mortality after the two-day break in individuals receiving three times a week haemodialysis.

Background: On the first haemodialysis (HD) day after the 2-day break in three times a week (3×W) in-centre HD, mortality and hospitalization are higher. If longer HD sessions prescribed 3×W is associated with a reduction in these events is unknown. Methods: HD session length in 19 557 prevalent European in-centre 3×W HD patients participating in the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (1998-2011) were categorized into 250 min. Standardized event rates on the first (HD1) versus the second (HD2) HD day after the 2-day break, with supporting Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for patient and dialysis characteristics, were generated for all-cause mortality, all-cause hospitalization, out-of-hospital death and fluid overload hospitalization. Results: By comparing HD1 with HD2, increased rates of all endpoints were observed (all P 250 min were at significantly greater risk on HD1 when compared with their HD2 for out-of-hospital death [hazard ratio (HR) = 2.1, 95% CI 1.0-4.3], all-cause hospitalization (HR = 1.3, 95% CI 1.2-1.4) and fluid overload hospitalization (HR = 3.2, 95% CI 1.8-6.0). Conclusions: Despite the association between reduced mortality across all dialysis days in patients performing longer sessions, elevated risk on the first dialysis day relative to the second persists even in patients dialysing 4.5 h 3×W

Chronic kidney failure mineral bone disorder leads to a permanent loss of hematopoietic stem cells through dysfunction of the stem cell niche

Nephrolog

Funding kidney research as a public health priority: challenges and opportunities

Medical societies have a social responsibility to disseminate knowledge and inform health authorities on threats to public health posed by various diseases. Advocacy for health protection programmes and for medical research funding is now embedded into the missions of most scientific societies. To promote kidney research funding in Europe, the European Renal Association - European Dialysis and Transplant Association (ERA-EDTA), rather than acting as an individual society advocating for the fight against kidney disease, has actively helped to create an alliance of national associations centred on kidney diseases, the European Kidney Health Alliance (EKHA), and joined the Biomedical Alliance (BMA). The ERA-EDTA is fully committed to supporting its working groups (WGs) and consortia of its members to allow them to produce valuable kidney research. The framing and formalization of projects, and the regulatory issues related to submission to the European Commission, are complex. To help WGs to gain expert advice from agencies with specific know-how, the ERA-EDTA has adopted a competitive approach. The best research projects proposed by WGs and consortia of other European investigators will receive seed funding to cover the costs of consultancy by expert agencies. Via its broader platforms, the EKHA and the BMA, the ERA-EDTA will strive towards broader recognition of kidney disease and related clusters of non-communicable diseases, by European and national agencies, as major threats to the qualities of life of their populations and their economies.Clinical epidemiolog

Renal replacement therapy in Europe : A summary of the 2013 ERA-EDTA Registry Annual Report with a focus on diabetes mellitus

Publisher Copyright: © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of ERA-EDTA.Background: This article provides a summary of the 2013 European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association (ERA-EDTA) Registry Annual Report (available at http://www.era-edta-reg.org), with a focus on patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) as the cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Methods: In 2015, the ERA-EDTA Registry received data on renal replacement therapy (RRT) for ESRD from 49 national or regional renal registries in 34 countries in Europe and bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Individual patient datawere provided by 31 registries, while 18 registries provided aggregated data. The total population covered by the participating registries comprised 650 million people. Results: In total, 72 933 patients started RRT for ESRD within the countries and regions reporting to the ERA-EDTA Registry, resulting in an overall incidence of 112 per million population (pmp). The overall prevalence on 31 December 2013was 738 pmp (n = 478 990). Patients with DM as the cause of ESRD comprised 24% of the incident RRT patients (26 pmp) and 17% of the prevalent RRT patients (122 pmp).Whencompared with the USA, the incidence of patients starting RRTpmpsecondary toDMin Europe was five times lower and the incidence of RRT due to other causes of ESRD was two times lower. Overall, 19 426 kidney transplants were performed (30 pmp). The 5-year adjusted survival for all RRT patients was 60.9% [95% confidence interval (CI) 60.5-61.3] and 50.6% (95% CI 49.9-51.2) for patients with DM as the cause of ESRD.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Dialysis initiation, modality choice, access, and prescription: conclusions from a Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) Controversies Conference

Globally, the number of patients undergoing maintenance dialysis is increasing, yet throughout the world there is significant variability in the practice of initiating dialysis. Factors such as availability of resources, reasons for starting dialysis, timing of dialysis initiation, patient education and preparedness, dialysis modality and access, as well as varied \u201ccountry-specific\u201d factors significantly affect patient experiences and outcomes. As the burden of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) has increased globally, there has also been a growing recognition of the importance of patient involvement in determining the goals of care and decisions regarding treatment. In January 2018, KDIGO (Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes) convened a Controversies Conference focused on dialysis initiation, including modality choice, access, and prescription. Here we present a summary of the conference discussions, including identified knowledge gaps, areas of controversy, and priorities for research. A major novel theme represented during the conference was the need to move away from a \u201cone-size-fits-all\u201d approach to dialysis and provide more individualized care that incorporates patient goals and preferences while still maintaining best practices for quality and safety. Identifying and including patient-centered goals that can be validated as quality indicators in the context of diverse health care systems to achieve equity of outcomes will require alignment of goals and incentives between patients, providers, regulators, and payers that will vary across health care jurisdictions

Atorvastatin induces associated reductions in platelet P-selectin, oxidized low-density lipoprotein, and interleukin-6 in patients with coronary artery diseases.

The development and progression of atherosclerosis comprises various processes, such as endothelial dysfunction, chronic inflammation, thrombus formation, and lipid profile modification. Statins are 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors that have pleiotropic effects in addition to cholesterol-lowering properties. However, the mechanisms of these effects are not completely understood. Here, we investigated whether atorvastatin affects the levels of malondialdehyde-modified low-density lipoprotein (MDALDL), an oxidized LDL, the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6), or platelet P-selectin, a marker of platelet activation, relative to that of LDL cholesterol (LDL-C). Forty-eight patients with coronary artery disease and hyperlipidemia were separated into two groups that were administered with (atorvastatin group) or without (control group) atorvastatin. The baseline MDA-LDL level in all participants significantly correlated with LDL-C (r = 0.71, P < 0.01) and apolipoprotein B levels (r = 0.66, P < 0.01). Atorvastatin (10 mg/day) significantly reduced the LDL-C level within 4 weeks and persisted for a further 8 weeks of administration. Atorvastatin also reduced the MDA-LDL level within 4 weeks and further reduced it over the next 8 weeks. Platelet P-selectin expression did not change until 4 weeks of administration and then significantly decreased at 12 weeks, whereas the IL-6 level was gradually, but not significantly, reduced at 12 weeks. In contrast, none of these parameters significantly changed in the control group within these time frames. The reduction (%) in IL-6 between 4 and 12 weeks after atorvastatin administration significantly correlated with that of MDALDL and of platelet P-selectin (r = 0.65, P < 0.05 and r = 0.70, P < 0.05, respectively). These results suggested that the positive effects of atorvastatin on the LDL-C oxidation, platelet activation and inflammation that are involved in atherosclerotic processes are exerted in concert after lowering LDL-C

Cognitive disorders in patients with chronic kidney disease: Approaches to prevention and treatment

Background: Cognitive impairment is common in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), and early intervention may prevent the progression of this condition. Methods: Here, we review interventions for the complications of CKD (anemia, secondary hyperparathyroidism, metabolic acidosis, harmful effects of dialysis, the accumulation of uremic toxins) and for prevention of vascular events, interventions that may potentially be protective against cognitive impairment. Furthermore, we discuss nonpharmacological and pharmacological methods to prevent cognitive impairment and/or minimize the latter's impact on CKD patients' daily lives. Results: A particular attention on kidney function assessment is suggested during work-up for cognitive impairment. Different approaches are promising to reduce cognitive burden in patients with CKD but the availabe dedicated data are scarce. Conclusions: There is a need for studies assessing the effect of interventions on the cognitive function of patients with CKD

Phosphate Meeting Cholesterol\textemdash Consequences for Cardiovascular Disease in Chronic Kidney Disease?

International audienceCardiovascular disease is highly prevalent in patients with chronic kidney disease. Hyperphosphatemia is associated with subclinical atheromatosis in chronic kidney disease. Phosphate-induced endothelial dysfunction and vascular calcification are thought to be key inducers of atherosclerosis in this condition. Zhou et al. now demonstrate that phosphate promotes de novo cholesterol synthesis in vascular smooth muscle and macrophages through increased 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase activation. This observation may change current concepts of atherosclerosis development and management in chronic kidney disease. \textcopyright 2021 International Society of Nephrolog