Hemodiafiltration With Endogenous Reinfusion Improved Microinflammation and Endothelial Damage Compared With Online-Hemodiafiltration: A Hypothesis Generating Study.

Hemodiafiltration with endogenous reinfusion (HFR) after ultrafiltrate passage through a resin cartridge combines adsorption, convection, and diffusion. Our prospective single-center crossover study compared HFR and online-hemodiafiltration (OLHDF) effects on two uremic toxins and 13 inflammatory, endothelial status, or oxidative stress markers. After an 8-week run-in period of high-flux hemodialysis, 17 eligible stable dialysis patients (median age 65 years, 10 male) without overt clinical inflammation were scheduled for four 8-week periods in the sequence: HFR/OLHDF/HFR/OLHDF. Relative to OLHDF, HFR was associated with greater indoxyl sulfate removal and lesser abnormalities in all other study variables, namely circulating interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, proportions of activated proinflammatory (CD14+CD16+, CD14++CD16+) monocytes, endothelial progenitor cells, apoptotic endothelial microparticles, vascular endothelial growth factor, vascular cellular adhesion molecule, angiopoietins 2 and 1, annexin V, and superoxide dismutase. Differences were significant (P < 0.05) in median values of 13/15 variables. Study period comparisons were generally consistent with dialysis technique comparisons, as were data from the subgroup completing all study periods (n = 9). Our investigation provides hypothesis-generating results suggesting that compared with OLHDF, HFR improves protein-bound toxin removal, inflammatory and endothelial status, and oxidative stress.

Administration of mycophenolic acid is not associated with malformations in descendants from kidney transplanted males.

BACKGROUND: In pregnant women, the use of Mycophenolic acid (MPA) is associated with teratogenicity. Recently, the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) and the Spanish Agency of Medicine and Sanitary Products (AEMPS) warned about the potential teratogenic effects of MPA. These adverse events may occur even in children from males on treatment with MPA. However, evidence of malformations in offsprings of male kidney transplanted patients (KT) exposed to MPA is limited. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the incidence of offspring malformations in children of renal transplanted males under MPA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study in which we evaluated the incidence of malformations in descendants from male recipients that were exposed or not to MPA before and at the time of conception. Two groups of patients were evaluated. Those exposed to MPA (MPA group, n = 20) and the non-MPA group (n = 13) that included patients that did not receive AZA (n = 5) and eight that did receive AZA (n = 8) at the time of conception. RESULTS: A total of forty-nine post-transplant conceptions were identified from 33 different renal transplanted males. MPA was used as the immunosuppressant in 28 of the conceptions. Males from the non-MPA group fathered the other 21 children. Median time from grafting to conception was 6.1 (IQR 2.4-11.1) years, and it was similar between groups. There were eight miscarriage episodes, 2 in the non-MPA group and 6 in the MPA group although differences were not reached. After that, all patients had children without problems. No malformations were detected in any of the 49 regardless whether they were exposed or not to MPA. CONCLUSIONS: No evidence of MPA-associated malformations was observed in descendants of kidney transplanted males on treatment with MPA. Further research is warranted to confirm our findings to properly advice transplanted males keen to procreate.