Immunophenotyping in BK Virus Allograft Nephropathy Distinct from Acute Rejection

Differentiating BK virus nephropathy (BKVN) from acute rejection (AR) is crucial in clinical practice, as both of them have interstitial inflammation in the grafts. The purpose of the study is to describe the inflammatory cellular constituents of BKVN and to determine the clinical utility of immunophenotyping findings in distinguishing BKVN from AR. In addition, the expression of the HLA-DR was investigated. Sixty-five renal allograft recipients were included in this study, including 22 cases of BKVN, 31 cases of AR, and 12 cases of stable allograft. Immunostaining for infiltrating lymphocytes showed that the number of CD20 cells (P<0.001) and the percentages of CD3 (P<0.001), CD4 (P=0.004), CD8 (P=0.005), and CD20 (P=0.002) cells were all significantly different between BKVN and AR. Moreover, there were no statistically significant differences in tubule cell HLA-DR expression (P=0.156). This observation suggests that the number of CD20 cells and the percentages of CD3, CD4, CD8, and CD20 cells in renal biopsies would aid the distinction between BKVN and AR. On the other hand, the presence of HLA-DR upregulation may not only be specific for acute rejection but also be a response to BKVN

Proteinuria, Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate and Urinary Retinol-Binding Protein as Clinical Predictors of Long-Term Allograft Outcomes in Transplant Glomerulopathy

Background/Aims: We aimed to explore the associations between clinical parameters and long-term allograft outcomes in transplant glomerulopathy (TG) in a large retrospective cohort with long follow-up. Methods: Clinical and laboratory data at biopsy from 180 cases of TG with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)&#x3e; 15ml/min/1.73m2 from January 2004 to December 2016 at our center were retrospectively analyzed. The main outcome of this study was initiation of replacement therapy or an eGFR declined to &#x3c; 15 ml/min/1.73m2. Results: During a median follow-up of 5 years (interquartile range 2.6-8.2 years), 117 cases (65.0%) achieved the combined event. Kaplan-Meier method yielded the 1-year and 5-year cumulative renal allograft survival rates after a histopathologic diagnosis of TG were 84% (95% confidence interval [CI] 81-87%) and 33% (95% CI 27–39%) respectively. In univariate analysis, allograft outcome differed significantly by eGFR, proteinuria, blood hemoglobin level, urinary retinol-binding protein (urRBP) and urinary N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (urNAG) level at the time of biopsy. Multivariate Cox analysis revealed that a higher level of eGFR was the most powerful predictor of allograft survival. Compared with those with eGFR≥60, the hazard ratio (HR) increased from 4.50 (95% CI: 1.03-19.71, p=0.0462) for patients with eGFR between 30 and 59 ml/min/1.73m2 to 9.14 (95% CI 1.97-42.45, P=0.0047) when eGFR decreased to 15 to 29 ml/min/1.73m2. Additionally, proteinuria and higher urRBP values (≥2.85mg/dl) were found to confer much worse survival rates for TG patients in multivariate Cox analysis. Male sex (HR 0.48, P=0.02) and HCV infection (HR 1.78, P=0.0499) were also found to be independent risk factors for worse allograft survival. Conclusion: Five clinical features—impaired renal function, higher proteinuria, higher urRBP level, male sex and HCV infection—are independent predictors of an unfavorable renal allograft outcome. urRBP is a simple and useful parameter that can add invaluable information for the clinical follow-up of patients with TG

Cl-Assisted Large Scale Synthesis of Cm-Scale Buckypapers of Fe3C-Filled Carbon Nanotubes with Pseudo-Capacitor Properties: The Key Role of SBA-16 Catalyst Support as Synthesis Promoter

We show a novel chemical vapour deposition (CVD) approach, in which the large-scale fabrication of ferromagnetically-filled cm-scale buckypapers is achieved through the deposition of a mesoporous supported catalyst (SBA-16) on a silicon substrate. We demonstrate that SBA-16 has the crucial role of promoting the growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on a horizontal plane with random orientation rather than in a vertical direction, therefore allowing a facile fabrication of cm-scale CNTs buckypapers free from the onion-crust by-product observed on the buckypaper-surface in previous reports. The morphology and composition of the obtained CNTs-buckypapers are analyzed in detail by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high resolution TEM (HRTEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), while structural analysis is performed by Rietveld Refinement of XRD data. The room temperature magnetic properties of the produced buckypapers are also investigated and reveal the presence of a high coercivity of 650 Oe. Additionally, the electrochemical performances of these buckypapers are demonstrated and reveal a behavior that is compatible with that of a pseudo-capacitor (resistive-capacitor) with better performances than those presented in other previously studied layered-buckypapers of Fe-filled CNTs, obtained by pyrolysis of dichlorobenzene-ferrocene mixtures. These measurements indicate that these materials show promise for applications in energy storage systems as flexible electrodes

Peeling off effects in vertically aligned Fe3C filled carbon nanotubes films grown by pyrolysis of ferrocene

We report the observation of an unusual self-peeling effect which allows the synthesis of free standing vertically aligned carbon nanotube films filled with large quantities of Fe3C and small quantities of ?-Fe crystals. We demonstrate that this effect depends on the interplay of three main factors: (1) the physical interactions between the chosen substrate surface and grown carbon nanotubes (CNTs), which is fixed by the composition of the used substrate (111 SiO2/Si or quartz), (2) the CNT-CNT Van der Waals interactions, and (3) the differential thermal contraction between the grown CNT film and the used substrate, which is fixed by the cooling rate differences between the grown film and the used quartz or Si/SiO2 substrates. The width and stability of these films are then further increased to cm-scale by addition of small quantities of toluene to the ferrocene precursor

Peeling off effects in vertically aligned Fe3C filled carbon nanotubes films grown by pyrolysis of ferrocene

We report the observation of an unusual self-peeling effect which allows the synthesis of free standing vertically aligned carbon nanotube films filled with large quantities of Fe3C and small quantities of ?-Fe crystals. We demonstrate that this effect depends on the interplay of three main factors: (1) the physical interactions between the chosen substrate surface and grown carbon nanotubes (CNTs), which is fixed by the composition of the used substrate (111 SiO2/Si or quartz), (2) the CNT-CNT Van der Waals interactions, and (3) the differential thermal contraction between the grown CNT film and the used substrate, which is fixed by the cooling rate differences between the grown film and the used quartz or Si/SiO2 substrates. The width and stability of these films are then further increased to cm-scale by addition of small quantities of toluene to the ferrocene precursor

The Prevalence of Immunologic Injury in Renal Allograft Recipients with De Novo Proteinuria

Post-transplant proteinuria is a common complication after renal transplantation; it is associated with reduced graft and recipient survival. However, the prevalence of histological causes has been reported with considerable variation. A clinico-pathological re-evaluation of post-transplant proteinuria is necessary, especially after dismissal of the term “chronic allograft nephropathy,” which had been considered to be an important cause of proteinuria. Moreover, urinary protein can promote interstitial inflammation in native kidney, whether this occurs in renal allograft remains unknown. Factors that affect the graft outcome in patients with proteinuria also remain unclear. Here we collected 98 cases of renal allograft recipients who developed proteinuria after transplant, histological features were characterized using Banff scoring system. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used for graft survival predictors. We found that transplant glomerulopathy was the leading (40.8%) cause of post-transplant proteinuria. Immunological causes, including transplant glomerulopathy, acute rejection, and chronic rejection accounted for the majority of all pathological causes of proteinuria. Nevertheless, almost all patients that developed proteinuria had immunological lesions in the graft, especially for interstitial inflammation. Intraglomerular C3 deposition was unexpectedly correlated with the severity of proteinuria. Moreover, the severity of interstitial inflammation was an independent risk factor for graft loss, while high level of hemoglobin was a protective factor for graft survival. This study revealed a predominance of immunological parameters in renal allografts with post-transplant proteinuria. These parameters not only correlate with the severity of proteinuria, but also with the outcome of the graft

Unusual butterfly-shaped magnetization signals and spin-glass-like behaviour in highly oriented pyrolytic graphite

We report a novel investigation on the relationship between magnetic-ordering and graphitic-structure in highly-oriented-pyrolytic-graphite (HOPG). By employing orientation-dependent-X-ray-diffraction, Raman-spectroscopy and temperature-dependent-superconductive-quantum-interference-device (T-SQUID) we examined the presence of ferromagnetic- and superconductive-ordering in HOPG systems with 1) disordered (HOPG1, containing carbon-vacancy-rich weak-Bernal-stacking and Moiré-superlattices with θmisfit ∼ 0.5°) and 2) ordered (HOPG2, containing higher-degree of Bernal-stacking and Moiré-superlattices with θmisfit ∼ 0.5°, 0.8°, 11°) graphitic-layer-arrangement. A perfect-HOPG is expected to exhibit a diamagnetic-response to an applied-magnetic-field. Instead, additional 1) ferromagnetic-signals presenting a characteristic width-enhancement with the field increasing in HOPG1 and 2) complex butterfly-shaped ferromagnetic signals in HOPG2, are demonstrated. Temperature-dependent-magnetometry evidenced further the presence of randomly oriented ferromagnetic clusters originating from topological disorder in both HOPG1 and HOPG2. These magnetic signals were explained on the basis of the percolative-type model

Evidence of band gap features in Fe3O4 Bbmm filled carbon nano-onions

A key challenge in the fabrication of ferromagnetically filled multilayer fullerenes (carbon nano-onions, CNOs) is the manipulation of the structure, composition and electronic band characteristics of both the carbon layers and encapsulated ferromagnetic material. Interestingly, a recent work has demonstrated that the addition of small quantities of water during the chemical vapour synthesis of Fe _3 C filled CNOs can allow the local manipulation of the Fe _3 C crystal-structure and induce the nucleation of a novel high pressure Bbmm Fe _3 O _4 crystal-phase. In this report we propose an advanced study of such structural transition. Particularly, we investigate the morphological, optical (band-gap) characteristics and magnetic properties of the as produced CNO materials by using transmission electron microscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and UV–vis spectroscopy

C3 glomerulonephritis and thrombotic microangiopathy of renal allograft after pulmonary infection in a male with concomitant two complement factor I gene variations: a case report

Abstract Background It has been suggested that C3 glomerulonephritis (C3GN) and atypical hemolytic-uremic syndrome (a stereotypical phenotype of thrombotic microangiopathy), two rare entities caused by complement alternative pathway dysregulation share overlapping genetic origin and can be triggered by infections. Case presentation We report a case of concomitant C3GN and thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) after pulmonary infection in a young male receiving kidney transplantation. Genetic assessment revealed two missense variations in compound heterozygous form in CFI gene (complement factor I). These two variations are segregated with disease in the core family member of this patient. Plasma CFI levels of the patient and family members were all in normal range. We considered that these two variations only impair CFI function rather than its quantity in the serum. Conclusion Our case supports that C3GN and TMA shared overlapping genetic variations and might be triggered by infection in genetically susceptible patients after kidney transplantation

Circulating Anti-endothelial Cell Antibodies Are Associated with Poor Outcome in Renal Allograft Recipients with Acute Rejection

Background and objectives: Anti-endothelial cell antibody (AECA) can cause hyperacute rejection and immediate graft loss after renal transplantation; however, its prevalence and significance during acute rejection are unknown. Previous studies suggested that AECA may be detected in recipients with acute vascular rejection (AVR)