Prospective Assessment of Hepcidin in Relation to Delayed or Immediate Graft Function in Patients Undergoing Kidney Transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Hepcidin is a peptide hormone that regulates iron homeostasis. Hepcidin may represent an early, predictive biomarker of acute kidney injury, another model of ischemia-reperfusion injury. Urinary hepcidin-25 has been shown to be elevated in patients who do not develop acute kidney injury. Creatinine is an unreliable indicator during acute changes in kidney; therefore, the aim of the study was to assess whether hepcidin could predict renal outcome in 31 consecutive patients undergoing kidney allograft transplantation. Serum hepcidin was evaluated before and after 1, 3, 6, and 10 days after kidney transplantation, using commercially available kits. Serum creatinine was assessed at the same time. METHODS: We found a significant decrease in serum hepcidin, as early as after 1 day after kidney transplantation. Before transplantation, serum hepcidin was related to creatinine. In patients with delayed graft function, there was no decrease in serum hepcidin. RESULTS: Our findings may have important implications for the clinical treatment of patients undergoing kidney transplantation. The "window of opportunity" is narrow in delayed graft function to distinguish between acute rejection and calcineurin inhibitors nephrotoxicity, and time is limited to introduce proper treatment after initiating insult. CONCLUSIONS: Hepcidin must be investigated as a potential early marker for delayed graft function, especially in the upcoming setting of early dialysis treatment or anti-rejection therapy and might contribute to early patient risk stratification.

Associations between IQ and alcohol consumption in a population of young males: a large database analysis.

PURPOSE: This study aimed at exploring the relationship between intelligence quotient (IQ) and alcohol consumption in a large sample of young males. This study explored whether IQ influences alcohol drinking and which pathways might be involved. We further hypothesized that IQ differences between lifetime abstainers and former drinkers exist, and that they primarily result from different group characteristics. METHOD: Within a psychiatric-epidemiological survey using a cross-sectional design IQ-tests were administered to approximately 50,000 Swiss conscripts at age of about 20 years. The sample was divided into four alcohol consumption categories (rare, occasional, moderate and daily drinking) and two non-drinker categories (former drinking and lifetime abstinence). Probabilities for different levels of consumption or former drinking against lifetime abstention in relation to IQ were estimated using multinomial logistic regression. Models were adjusted for education, disability pension, tobacco/cannabis use, migration, parental alcohol disorders, and mental health. RESULTS: After adjusting for confounders full-scale IQ displayed positive associations with being a rare (OR 1.13; CI 95 % 1.07-1.19), occasional (OR 1.41; CI 95 % 1.33-1.48), and moderate drinker (OR 1.53; CI 95 % 1.45-1.62), and negative associations with being a former drinker (OR 0.85; CI 95 % 0.79-0.93). Daily drinking was positively associated only with the performance subscale IQ (OR 1.12; CI 95 % 1.02-1.22). Confounders contributed significantly to the IQ-alcohol association and, therefore, highlight the distinction of non-drinkers into lifetime abstainers and former drinkers. CONCLUSIONS: Our data confirmed the positive link between IQ and moderate drinking. Lower IQ in non-drinkers, however, seems to be related to earlier consumption and the presence of other risk factors.

Assessment of connective tissue fibres in walls of allogenic arterial grafts preserved by the method of cold ischemia--a preliminary report.

The aim of the study was to evaluate microscopic changes in the wall structures of allogenic arterial grafts, preserved by the method of cold ischemia in relation to the storage period and to test the possibility of the storage period prolongation by allograft freezing at -70 degrees C. The middle layer ultrastructure is well preserved till 30 days from allograft harvesting, however, allograft freezing results in total destruction of elastic and collagen fibres in the arterial wall. An application of allogenic arterial grafts, preserved by the method of cold ischemia till 30 days from their harvesting, seems an efficient therapeutic method in the treatment of patients with synthetic vascular graft infection. Further prolongation of the storage period at -70 degrees C made the allograft useless for implantation.