No description available.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major public health concern, characterized by an irreversible reduction in renal function. Currently, creatinine-based GFR estimation is predominantly used clinically to characterize CKD. However, this method is known to be an insensitive test for early losses of kidney function. Since patient prognosis relies heavily on slowing further decline of kidney function, uncovering novel biomarkers for kidney function, in conjunction with eGFR, will help improve patient outcome. Epigenetic-based biomarkers have been identified in numerous cancers, as DNA methylation changes alter cellular function. Thus, the objective of this study is to determine novel DNA methylation patterns reflecting altered kidney function. Five healthy participants that have undergone a nephrectomy have donated urine samples before and after their surgery, and global DNA methylation changes were analyzed through the 450K HumanMethylation microarray. Site- and region-level analyses were conducted to determine significant differentially methylated probes post-nephrectomy. The differential associations observed post-nephrectomy are statistically significant in both the site-level and regional analyses. Nineteen significant candidate probes have been systematically selected for validation, based on involvement in kidney function and consistent direction of methylation. Pyrosequencing assays have also been successfully designed and tested with control DNA, however replication of the microarray findings in participant DNA was unsuccessful. The inability to validate these candidate probes may be attributed to many influencing factors, and with this in mind, uncovering novel methylation patterns is still a promising biomarker for evaluating kidney function. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Thesis (doctoral)--Lund University, 1997. / Added t.p. with thesis statement inserted.

Thesis (doctoral)--Lund University, 1997. / Added t.p. with thesis statement inserted.

No description available.

Abstract The aim of the present work was to elucidate the incidence, associated risk factors and natural course of nephrocalcinosis (NC) in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants, and to evaluate renal function in affected infants during early childhood. The occurrence and course of NC in full-term infants receiving furosemide and in infants with congenital lactase deficiency were also studied. A total of 129 VLBW infants were screened for NC by renal ultrasonography (US) at 2 and 6 weeks and 3 months, and ultrasonic follow-up was performed on the infants with NC at 6, 12, 18 and 24 months, and thereafter annually up to age 5-6 years or until ultrasonic resolution. NC was classified according to its pyramidal localisation and extent. Twenty VLBW children with neonatal NC and 20 control pairs without the condition were examined for renal function at 4.7 (SD 1.1) vs. 4.6 (0.9) years of age. Thirty-six full-term infants who had received furosemide treatment for congestive heart failure for at least 4 weeks and 36 control infants without any diuretic therapy were examined by renal US and by means of a random urine sample taken at a median age of 2.9 vs. 3.4 months. The case records of the 11 infants with congenital lactase deficiency were analysed for NC, and these children were re-evaluated at 2 to 10 years of age. NC was detected in 26 out of the 129 VLBW infants (20%). The infants with NC were sicker and smaller than the unaffected ones and had more often received furosemide, dexamethasone and theophylline treatment. NC was peripheral in 14 cases (54%), scattered in 7 (27%) and extensive in 5 (19%). All the casesof peripheral NC showed resolution at 12 months, but abnormal renal findings were seen in 3 out of the 7 with scattered NC and 3 out of the 4 surviving children with extensive NC at 24 months, in 2 of whom the condition persisted at age 5-6 years. The children with neonatal NC showed increased urinary calcium and μ2-microglobulin excretion as compared with the controls in early childhood, but there was no significant difference in distal tubular acidification capacity, nor in estimated creatinine clearance. Five out of the 36 full-term infants receiving long-term furosemide had NC, but none of the controls. The daily dose of furosemide and the urinary calcium concentration were both higher in the infants with NC. Abnormal renal findings were still visible in two of the cases at 24 months of age. Hypercalcaemia was found in 7 out of 10 infants with congenital lactase deficiency tested at the time of diagnosis, and NC was seen in 5 of the 7 cases examined by renal ultrasonography. No constant dysfunction in calcium homeostasis was seen at re-evaluation, but nephrocalcinotic changes were observable in 3 out of the 11 children. NC may complicate not only the course of VLBW infants, but also that of full-term infants with calciuric medication and diseases that involve hypercalcaemia. Some renal tubular dysfunction may result from NC in former preterm infants, but overall kidney function seems not to be seriously compromised in early childhood.

No description available.

MMed, Chemical Pathology, Faculty of health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 2009 / Background The 4-variable Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (4-v MDRD) and Cockcroft-Gault (CG) equations are commonly used for estimating glomerular filtration rate (GFR); however, neither of these equations has been validated in an indigenous African population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the 4-v MDRD and CG equations for estimating GFR in black South Africans against measured GFR and to assess the appropriateness for the local population of the ethnicity factor established for African Americans in the 4-v MDRD equation. Methods We enrolled 100 patients in the study. The plasma clearance of chromium-51–EDTA (51Cr- EDTA) was used to measure GFR, and serum creatinine was measured using an isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS) traceable assay. We estimated GFR using both the reexpressed 4-v MDRD and CG equations and compared it to measured GFR using 4 modalities: correlation coefficient, weighted Deming regression analysis, percentage bias, and proportion of estimated GFR within 30% of measured GFR (P30). Results The Spearman correlation coefficient between measured and estimated GFR for both equations was similar (4-v MDRD R2 = 0.80 and CG R2 = 0.79). Using the 4-v MDRD equation with the ethnicity factor of 1.212 as established for African Americans resulted in a median positive bias of 13.1 (95% CI 5.5 to 18.3) mL/min/1.73m2. Without the ethnicity factor median bias was 1.9 (95% CI -0.8 to 4.5) mL/min/1.73m2. Conclusion The 4-v MDRD equation, without the ethnicity factor of 1.212, can be used for estimating GFR in black South Africans.

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1979. / Bibliography: leaves 86-97. / Microfiche. / xii, 97 leaves ill. 29 cm

Thesis (MAppSc) -- University of South Australia, 1998