Study protocol and baseline characteristics of newly induced dialysis patients: a prospective multi-center cohort study with a biological sample bank, the Ibaraki Dialysis Initiation Cohort (iDIC) study.

BACKGROUND: Patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) face higher risks of life-threatening events including cardiovascular disease. Various risk factors are identified as agents influencing the life prognosis of ESKD patients. Herein, we evaluated the risk factors related to the outcomes of Japanese patients with dialysis induction. We present the study protocol, the patients' baseline characteristics, and their outcomes. METHODS: The Ibaraki Dialysis Initiation Cohort (iDIC) Study is a prospective multi-center cohort study in collaboration with 60 tertiary-care facilities in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. We collected baseline data from clinical records and analyzed blood and urine samples of these facilities' patients with diabetic nephropathy, hypertensive nephrosclerosis, and chronic glomerulonephritis (CGN). The study's primary outcome was the survival rate at 24 months after dialysis induction. We performed a Kaplan-Meier analysis for cumulative survival and a Cox proportional hazards analysis for all-cause mortality and hospitalization. RESULTS: We analyzed 636 patients' cases (424 males, 212 females, age 67.4 ± 13.1 yrs. [mean ± SD]). We compared the patients' baseline data with those of similar cohort studies. As the primary kidney disease, 327 cases (51.4%) were diagnosed as diabetic nephropathy, 101 (15.9%) as hypertensive nephrosclerosis, and 114 (17.9%) as CGN. The mean serum creatinine value was 9.1 ± 2.9 mg/dL. The mean estimated glomerular filtration rate was 5.6 ± 1.8 mL/min/1.73m2. The cumulative survival rates at 6 months and 24 months after dialysis induction were 95.2 and 87.7%, respectively. The cumulative survival rate was significantly lower with increasing age. A Cox proportional hazards regression analysis demonstrated that high age was significantly associated with all-cause mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Regarding the clinical characteristics of these newly induced dialysis patients, the same trend as in other cohort studies was observed. Another study is underway to explore prognostic factors based on the iDIC Study's findings.

Polyvinyl alcohol as a useful indicator on iodometry. (II): Temperature dependence of iodine recovery and the correction method of iodine concentration in the lower detection limit region.

In an iodometric titration method for iodine (or chlorine) analysis, the percent recovery of iodine (or chlorine) decreases in the low concentration region and at the relatively higher temperature range. We have shown that the percent recovery vs. concentration curve can be expressed by a simple empirical formula. The empirical formula contains parameters that depend on temperature and those parameters were obtained as a function of temperature. The empirical formula can be used as a correction function for experimental iodine (or chlorine) concentrations. By applying the correction function with the parameters to the experimentally obtained concentrations, we can estimate the reliable concentration in the low concentration region. Estimated concentrations were within 10% (as RSD) of the exact values after the correction in the range of 0.4 mg I2 L(-1) ([triple bond] ca. 0.1 mg as Cl2 L9-1)) - 4.4 mg I2 L(-1) ([triple bond] ca. 1.2 mg as Cl2 L(-1)) in the temperature range of 0 to 30 degrees C.