Electrochemical skin conductance and heart rate variability in patients with non-dialysis chronic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is very common now and associates with high overall and cardiovascular mortality. Numerous studies have reported that Heart rate variability (HRV) could also be used to detect cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction (CAD). We investigated the association of electrochemical skin conductance (ESC) of EZSCAN results with HRV in non-dialysis CKD patients. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, we enrolled 248 prevalent non-dialysis CKD patients. Patients underwent a 24-h Holter (CB-2302-A, Bio Instrument, China). A time domain analysis of HRV was performed, and the following parameters were obtained: SDNN, SDANN, rMSSD, pNN50. EZSCAN device (Impeto Medical, Paris, France) measures ESC values of each participants. Mean global skin conductance computed as 0.5 * (reflecting (right + left hand)/2 + (right and left foot)/2). Log transforms data into a normal distribution for statistical analysis. RESULTS: There were 142 males and 106 females included in the present study. Patients' age was 56.6±17.08 years. Logarithm(Log) (global ESC) was independently predicted by age (P<0.01), hypertension history, estimated Glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and log SDNN (P<0.05). While log SDANN, rMSSD and pNN50 were not independent predictors for log (global ESC). CONCLUSION: Increased global ESC significantly associated with elevated HRV, specifically SDNN in non-dialysis CKD patients. This suggested that global ESC may appear to be an important predictor of CAD, and even could be used as a cardiovascular risk factor in non-dialysis CKD patients.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia associated with white matter hyperintensities in men.

PURPOSE: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) describes common noncancerous prostate enlargement. BPH is usually associated with lower urinary tract symptoms and an increased risk of cerebrovascular diseases, such as stroke and its recurrence. White matter hyperintensities (WMHs), markers of cerebral injury, increase the risk of stroke, cognitive impairment, dementia, and death. The relationship between BPH and WMHs remains unclear. This study aimed to determine the association between BPH and WMHs. METHODS: A total of 788 male patients from the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University from July 2019 to September 2021 were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. BPH was assessed by abdominal ultrasound, and three independent neuroradiologists rated the presence or absence of WMHs. Multiple imputations of chained equations were used to handle missing data. Logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between BPH and WMHs. RESULTS: Patients with BPH presented an increased risk of WMHs with a crude odds ratio (OR) of 2.76 (95% CI, 2.02-3.79) and an adjusted OR of 1.75 (95% CI, 1.24-2.48) after controlling for potential confounding factors in the multivariate logistic regression. CONCLUSION: We found that BPH was closely associated with WMHs in male Chinese individuals.

Glomerular filtration Rate, urine Albumin/ creatinine ratio and current perception threshold in patients with diabetic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND: Diabetic microvascular complications, including diabetic kidney disease (DKD), retinopathy (DR), and neuropathy (DN), were major causes of morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients worldwide. It has been suggested that urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were not the only indicators of renal function impairment in DKD and that they were also associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) which might affect nerve conduction velocity (NCV). As 30-40% of DPN patients had no subjective symptoms, while current perception threshold (CPT) could detect sensory nerve damage at an early stage. As a result, we aimed to investigate correlation between UACR, eGFR and CPT in DKD patients. METHODS: A total of 273 DKD patients from the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University from January 2018 to June 2020 were enrolled to complete the CPT test. CPT values of the bilateral median nerve and superficial and deep peroneal nerves at 2000 Hz, 250 Hz, and 5 Hz were collected. RESULTS: In normoesthesia and hypaesthesia patients with DKD, MDRD-eGFR correlated negatively with TC (r = -0.135, P = 0.037), left superficial peroneal and deep peroneal nerve 2000 Hz CPT (r = -0.205, P = 0.001) and right superficial peroneal and deep peroneal nerve 2000 Hz CPT (r = -0.154, P = 0.017). Besides, left and right superficial peroneal and deep peroneal nerve 2000 Hz CPT correlated with CKD-EPI-eGFR and UACR. Multivariate logistic regression analysis found left superficial peroneal and deep peroneal nerve 2000 Hz CPT was independently associated with both MDRD-eGFR and CKD-EPI-eGFR. CONCLUSION: Decreased MDRD-eGFR and CKD-EPI-eGFR were expected to be a predictor of peripheral nerve injury in normoesthesia and hypaesthesia patients with DKD.