Factors Influencing Long-Term Survival of Kidney Grafts Transplanted From Deceased Donors-Analysis Based on a Single-Center Experience.

BACKGROUND: Kidney transplantation is a routine procedure in the treatment of patients with kidney failure and requires collaboration of experts from different disciplines. Improvements in the procedure result from numerous factors. METHODS: The analyzed group consisted of 150 patients divided into 2 equal subgroups: long-term (>15 years) and short-term (<6 years) graft survival. The following factors were taken into consideration: graft survival time, HLA mismatches, recipient sex, sex compatibility, panel reactive antibodies (PRA), cold ischemia time (CIT), and cause of kidney insufficiency. Factors were analyzed in groups with the use of Student t and chi-square tests, Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance (ANOVA), and multifactorial ANOVA. RESULTS: Basic statistical analysis revealed no significance between long-term and short-term survival groups in HLA mismatches, recipient sex, or sex compatibility. There was a very significant difference in CIT. ANOVA revealed no statistical difference between groups in recipient sex, sex compatibility, or recipient disease. There were more patients in the group with long-term survival with lower PRA. There were more women in the group with long-term survival who received kidneys from men. Multifactorial analysis revealed no interactions or independent influence of the selected factors. CONCLUSIONS: CIT was a strong independent factor influencing graft survival. Recipient sex and cause of kidney insufficiency seemed to have no impact. Lower PRA was positively correlated with long-term survival. Women who received kidneys from men lived longer with functioning grafts.

Measurement of Internal and External Pressure of Transplanted Kidney: An Underestimated Method of Diagnosis for Renal Grafts.

Hardness, or tensity (tonus), of transplanted kidney can change in the course of various pathologic conditions. Manual examination (with palpation), which is most frequently used to evaluate this transplanted organ, is not objective. First attempts of objective evaluation were described in the medical literature in the 1980s. They consisted of evaluation of intrarenal pressure by puncturing the kidney, connecting an intravenous drip line, and measuring the pressure in centimeters of water column. Examination of a group of subjects revealed significant differences in mean measurements, especially in patients with acute rejection process compared with the control group. However, use of this method was not continued, owing to its invasiveness. Our own diagnostic method, described here, is measurement of external kidney pressure (tonus). Two types of devices (tonometers) are described, as well as a project of a future tonometer functioning on the basis of electronically measured differences in values of forces used above the graft and above the symmetric part of the abdomen causing identical deflection of abdominal wall. Thirty-two patients (including control group) were examined with the use of this method. Statistically significant differences were revealed between patients with acute graft rejection and chronic graft nephropathy compared with the control group. The method described here can be a valuable supplement to other currently used noninvasive means of renal graft evaluation, including ultrasonography, Doppler, and elastographic examinations.

Genetic and structural characterization of the growth hormone gene and protein from tench, Tinca tinca.

The analysis of the tench growth hormone gene structure revealed a comparable organization of coding and non-coding regions than other from cyprinid species. Based on the performed mRNA and amino acid sequence alignments, gh tench is related to Asian than to European representatives of Cyprinidae family. Second aim of the work was to characterize and predict protein structure of the tench growth hormone. Tinca tinca GH share many common features with human GH molecule. The Tench GH protein binds to the growth hormone receptor (GHR) using two regions I and II that are situated at opposite sites of molecule. Binding site I is placed in the central part of T. tinca GH and H 189 amino acid in the middle region of the IV helix is crucial for GH-GHR interactions.

Lack of association between Gly460Trp polymorphism of alpha-adducin gene and salt sensitivity of blood pressure in Polish hypertensives.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have suggested that alpha-adducin (alpha-ADD) polymorphism may identify patients with a salt-sensitive form of hypertension. AIM: To investigate the association between Gly460Trp polymorphism of alpha-ADD and the pattern of blood pressure response to subacute (1 week) salt loading and depletion in young adult thin Polish hypertensives. METHODS: The study group consisted of 44 subjects with salt-sensitive hypertension (SS) and 24 subjects with non-salt-sensitive hypertension (SR). Genomic DNA isolated from peripheral blood leukocytes was amplified by PCR method with primers flanking the polymorphic region. The mismatch near to 3'-end of the upstream primer was introduced to create a Nla III restriction site in Trp 460 allele. In addition, excreted fraction of filtered sodium (FENa), plasma renin activity (PRA) and plasma concentrations of aldosterone (ALDO) were determined on normal, low and high salt diets. RESULTS: FENa on normal or high salt diets were significantly lower in the SS hypertensives as compared with the SR patients. PRA in SS group was also significantly lower as compared with results in SR group, but only on high salt diet. No significant difference was detected in frequencies of genotypes and alleles of alpha-ADD gene between SS and SR subjects. An additional analysis with regard to genotype (Gly/Gly vs. Gly/Trp+Trp/Trp) showed no significant difference in changes of blood pressure as well as in results of laboratory investigations. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest lack of association between Gly460Trp polymorphism of alpha-adducin gene and salt sensitivity of blood pressure in Polish hypertensives.