Kidney News and Research

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Findings support partial nephrectomy for T1b RCC

Partial nephrectomy and radical nephrectomy provide comparable cancer control for T1b renal cell carcinoma, yet use of the less radical approach has remained limited in the USA over recent years, study results show.

28 Aug 2013

Researchers develop ddPCR technology to quantify rejection biomarker in organ transplant injury

A recently reported blood test for the early detection of organ transplant injury could enable more timely therapeutic intervention in transplant patients and thus help to avoid longer term damage. As described by scientists at the University Medical Center G-ttingen and Chronix Biomedical, a molecular diagnostics company, the new method uses Bio-Rad Laboratories' Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR-) technology to overcome the obstacles of earlier tests, which were both time-consuming and costly.

28 Aug 2013

New technique using ice slush and robotic surgery to remove large kidney stone

A first-ever technique using ice slush and minimally invasive robotic surgery to remove a particularly large type of kidney stone has been reported by urologists at Henry Ford Hospital.

28 Aug 2013

Vanderbilt adds genetic screening for drug tacrolimus to PREDICT program

Vanderbilt has added genetic screening for the drug tacrolimus to its personalize medicine pharmacogenomics program PREDICT. The new drug screening protocol was added following data that shows a single genetic variation largely impacts different dose requirements for patients.

27 Aug 2013

Risk of kidney stones increasing among women

The risk of women developing kidney stones is rising, as is the number of cases being seen in U.S. emergency departments, while the rate of hospitalization for the disorder has remained stable.

27 Aug 2013

Smartphone-based portable device to conduct kidney tests invented at UCLA

A lightweight and field-portable device invented at UCLA that conducts kidney tests and transmits data through a smartphone attachment may significantly reduce the need for frequent office visits by people with diabetes and others with chronic kidney ailments.

26 Aug 2013

Millions of Chinese face risk of chronic arsenic poisoning

Since the 1960s, it has been known that groundwater resources in certain provinces of China are contaminated with arsenic. Estimates of the numbers of affected people have risen year by year. In the most recent survey - conducted by the Chinese Ministry of Health between 2001 and 2005 - more than 20,000 (5%) of the 445,000 wells tested showed arsenic concentrations higher than 50 -g/L.

23 Aug 2013

Scientists grow cells that line blood vessels from human iPSCs

In a scientific first, Harvard Stem Cell Institute scientists have successfully grown the cells that line the blood vessels-called vascular endothelial cells-from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), revealing new details about how these cells function.

23 Aug 2013

Structured exercise can improve heart function in patients with kidney disease

A structured exercise and lifestyle program can improve fitness, body composition, and heart function in patients with kidney disease, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN).

23 Aug 2013

Study: Gene variants linked with increased risk for kidney complications in patients with lupus

Variants in a particular gene are linked with an increased risk for kidney complications in patients with lupus, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. The findings could lead to better treatments to protect the kidney health of patients with the disease.

23 Aug 2013

Noninvasive urine test can accurately monitor risk of kidney rejection

Levels of a protein in the urine of kidney transplant recipients can distinguish those at low risk of developing kidney injury from those at high risk, a study suggests. The results also suggest that low levels of this protein, called CXCL9, can rule out rejection as a cause of kidney injury.

23 Aug 2013

Ireland’s Health Research Board awards €1.2M to UL researchers

University of Limerick researchers have been awarded over €1.2 million funding by Ireland’s Health Research Board. The funding will support health research focused on; primary care reform in Ireland; avoidance of adverse outcomes in vascular surgery; dealing with the progression of chronic kidney disease and enhancing physical activity for multiple sclerosis patients.

22 Aug 2013

Pazopanib drug shows improved quality of life and safety in metastatic kidney cancer patients

Two oral targeted drugs approved for metastatic kidney cancer worked equally well, but one proved superior in tolerability, according to results of a large international clinical trial led by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

22 Aug 2013

University of Adelaide wins $2.24M to establish new national Center of Research Excellence

The University of Adelaide has won US$2.24 million to establish a new national Center of Research Excellence, in partnership with the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organization (NACCHO) and the University of Wollongong.

22 Aug 2013

Hypertension researcher receives Distinguished Scientist title from AHA

Kenneth Bernstein, MD, a Cedars-Sinai pathologist and scientific researcher known for expanding the understanding of a collection of proteins important in controlling blood pressure as well as heart and renal diseases, has been named a 2013 Distinguished Scientist by the American Heart Association.

21 Aug 2013

High levels of urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio linked with greater risk of CHD in black individuals

In a large national study, higher levels of the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio was associated with greater risk of incident but not recurrent coronary heart disease in black individuals when compared with white individuals, according to a study in the August 21 issue of JAMA.

21 Aug 2013

Full-time workers more likely to get kidney transplants

People in end-stage kidney failure in need of a kidney transplant are much less likely to be placed on a waiting list for a new kidney or to actually receive a new kidney once on the list if they are unemployed or work part time, according to new collaborative research from the University of New Hampshire.

20 Aug 2013

Arrays of nanoscale sensors detect flaws in drugs and help improve production

MIT chemical engineers have discovered that arrays of billions of nanoscale sensors have unique properties that could help pharmaceutical companies produce drugs - especially those based on antibodies - more safely and efficiently.

17 Aug 2013

Scientists have made breakthrough in understanding cancer-promoting action of herbal products

A team of scientists from the National Cancer Centre Singapore, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore, and Taiwan's Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, LinKou, have made a breakthrough in understanding the cancer-promoting action of Aristolochic Acid (AA), a natural product of Aristolochia plants traditionally used in some Asian herbal remedies for weight loss and slimming.

14 Aug 2013

Scientist receives grant to examine protein trigger involved in cell function regulation in breast cancer

The New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research (NJCCR) has awarded Janice Thomas, PhD, a post-doctoral fellow in the X.F. Steven Zheng laboratory at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey a two-year $100,000 grant (#DFHS13PPCO32) to further examine the impact of a protein 'trigger' involved in the regulation of cell function in breast cancer.

13 Aug 2013