Kidney international
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Most organisms respond to a hypertonic environment by accumulating small organic solutes. In contrast to high concentrations of electrolytes, the small organic solutes do not perturb the activity of enzymes and other macromolecules within the cell. ⋯ The activation of TonEBP by hypertonicity results from its translocation to the nucleus as well as an increase in TonEBP mRNA and protein. TonEBP may have a role beyond the response to tonicity since it is highly expressed in activated lymphocytes and in developing tissues.
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Kidney international · May 2001
Meta AnalysisImmunosuppressive agents in childhood nephrotic syndrome: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Many children with steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome (SSNS) relapse frequently and receive immunosuppressive agents. In this systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), the benefits and harms of these immunosuppressive agents are evaluated. ⋯ Cyclophosphamide, chorambucil, cyclosporine, and levamisole reduce the risk of relapse in children with relapsing SSNS compared with prednisone alone. Clinically important differences in efficacy among these agents are possible, and further comparative trials are still needed. Meanwhile, the choice between these agents depends on physician and patient preferences related to therapy duration and complication type and frequency.
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Kidney international · Feb 2001
ReviewIntervention of the Renal Disaster Relief Task Force in the 1999 Marmara, Turkey earthquake.
Major earthquakes are followed by a substantial number of crush syndromes and pigment-induced acute renal failures (ARFs). The natural evolution of this problem rapidly leads to death. Today's possibilities of dialysis therapy enable saving numerous lives that otherwise would be lost. Currently, the primary problem is organizational, if huge catastrophes occur and complex therapeutic options need to be offered to a large number of victims. ⋯ We demonstrate how previously anticipated international support may offer moral, financial, as well as logistical help to local nephrological communities confronted with serious disasters.
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Kidney international · Dec 2000
ReviewRelationship between nonphenacetin combined analgesics and nephropathy: a review. Ad Hoc Committee of the International Study Group on Analgesics and Nephropathy.
The debate on the association between nonphenacetin-containing combined analgesics and renal disease has lasted for several years. ⋯ The committee's two main conclusions were that sufficient evidence is absent to associate nonphenacetin combined analgesics with nephropathy and that new studies should be done to provide appropriate data for resolving the question.
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Kidney international · Mar 2000
Review Biography Historical ArticleMichelangelo: art, anatomy, and the kidney.
Michelangelo (1475-1564) had a life-long interest in anatomy that began with his participation in public dissections in his early teens, when he joined the court of Lorenzo de' Medici and was exposed to its physician-philosopher members. By the age of 18, he began to perform his own dissections. His early anatomic interests were revived later in life when he aspired to publish a book on anatomy for artists and to collaborate in the illustration of a medical anatomy text that was being prepared by the Paduan anatomist Realdo Colombo (1516-1559). ⋯ That this may account for his interest in kidney function is evident in his poetry and drawings. Most impressive in this regard is the mantle of the Creator in his painting of the Separation of Land and Water in the Sistine Ceiling, which is in the shape of a bisected right kidney. His use of the renal outline in a scene representing the separation of solids (Land) from liquid (Water) suggests that Michelangelo was likely familiar with the anatomy and function of the kidney as it was understood at the time.