Myringosclerosis in hemodialysis patients with hyperparathyroidism.

Myringosclerosis is the final stage of the middle ear lamina propria inflammation or trauma; it starts with collagen production in excess amounts in the lamina propria of the middle ear mucosa. Then, hyalinization and calcification occur. Later on, metaplasia of bone or cartilage can occur. A similar sequence occurs with hyperparathyroidism in chronic kidney disease. This study is aimed to detect the prevalence of myringosclerosis in patients of our hemodialysis (HD) unit and find out any association between hyperparathyroidism and myringosclerosis in chronic HD patients. A total number of 86 patients were selected according to the inclusion criteria. They were divided into two groups: Group 1 (58 patients myringosclerosis free patients on regular HD), Group 2 (28 patients myringosclerosis-positive patients on regular HD). No statically significant difference was found in serum parathyroid hormone levels between the two studied groups. Serum creatinine was significantly higher in Group 2, serum ferritin was significantly lower in Group 2, and mean corpuscular volume of red blood cells was highly significantly lower in Group 2. Myringosclerosis affects 32% of our HD patients and we could not detect any strong correlation between myringosclerosis and hyperparathyroidism.

Effect of deferoxamine therapy on insulin resistance in end-stage renal disease patients with iron overload.

Cardiovascular diseases are a common cause of morbidity and mortality in subjects on regular hemodialysis. Insulin resistance is associated with increased cardiovascular diseases. Elevated serum ferritin is linked to insulin resistance. The aim of this work is to study the effect of desferoxamine therapy on some of the cardiovascular risk factors such as fasting insulin, B-cell function, insulin resistance, glucose, HbA1c%, lipid profile, blood pressure and carotid intima media thickness (CAIMT). Our study included ten subjects on regular hemodialysis with elevated serum ferritin. We measured the fasting serum glucose, HbA1c%, insulin, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), fasting lipid profile, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels and complete blood count (CBC). Statistically significant decreases in fasting serum insulin, B-cell function, glucose, HbA1c% and HOMA-IR were noted after deferoxamine therapy. No statistically significant difference was seen with regard to lipid profile, blood pressure and CAIMT. Iron overload increases insulin resistance and cardiovascular risk in hemodialysis subjects. Correction of anemia by iron therapy should keep target ferritin as per guidelines. Further studies are needed to determine the safest ferritin level among hemodialysis subjects.

Expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme mRNA gene in the kidneys of patients with glomerulonephrites.

A little is known about the behavior of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in glomerulo-nephritis (GN), although it is activated in other models of injury. To study renal angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) gene expression in patients with GN to determine its role in the disease process and other factors that may influence the course of the disease and the prognosis, e.g. treatment with ACE inhibitor (ACEI) drugs, we studied 20 patients with GN allocated to two groups: ten patients received an ACEI drug and ten patients did not receive ACEI in addition to a control group of ten healthy subjects. Routine and special laboratory investigation, histopathological studies and quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis for renal ACE mRNA were done for both the study and the control groups. There was a statistically significant increase in ACE mRNA gene expression in the GN groups than in control group, but no statistically significant difference in ACE mRNA gene expression between the patients group that received and the group that did not receive ACEI. A significant correlation was found between the ACE mRNA gene expression and the mean blood pressure, serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen and 24-h urinary protein. In conclusion, a higher level of ACE mRNA gene expression in patients suffering from GN may suggest a role of the RAS in the process of GN, perhaps contributing to glomerular hypertrophy and matrix overproduction. The use of ACEI drugs possibly slows the rate of progression of renal failure and plays a role in controlling the pathophysiology.