Nephrology News and Research

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Nephrology is a branch of internal medicine and pediatrics dealing with the study of the function and diseases of the kidney.

Medicare officials signal no payment changes on anemia drugs

Medicare officials signaled Wednesday that they will not change a payment policy for biotech drugs made by Amgen and Johnson & Johnson when they are used to treat anemia in kidney disease patients, despite data suggesting heart risks for those patients.

18 Mar 2011

U-M researcher endorses new concepts designed to improve kidney allocation

Providing kidney transplants to patients with the best probability of longer survival would reduce repeat transplant operations and improve life span after kidney transplant, says a U-M researcher in a commentary published in the New England Journal of Medicine March 16.

18 Mar 2011

Study: Daily hemodialysis can help alleviate sleep problems related to RLS

For dialysis patients, performing daily dialysis at home can help alleviate sleep problems related to restless legs syndrome, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

18 Mar 2011

Scientists receive £5million EU grant to identify gene targets for kidney cancer treatment

An international consortium led by scientists from the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute, The Royal Marsden Hospital and the Technical University of Denmark has been granted nearly £5million by the European Union to identify gene targets for personalised treatment for kidney cancer patients.

18 Mar 2011

FibroGen, Astellas advance FG-4592 to phase 2b development for treatment of anemia in chronic kidney disease

FibroGen, Inc., today announced that FibroGen and partner Astellas Pharma Inc. advanced FG-4592 (Astellas designation ASP1517), an investigational anemia therapy, to phase 2b development for treatment of anemia in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients on dialysis and not on dialysis.

18 Mar 2011

Researchers discover 3-D structure of key biological receptor

Researchers have solved the three-dimensional structure of a key biological receptor. The finding has the potential to speed drug discovery in many areas, from arthritis to respiratory disorders to wound healing, because it enables chemists to better examine and design molecules for use in experimental drugs.

16 Mar 2011

New study on how epoxyeicosatrienoic acids protect kidneys

Researchers at Georgia Health Sciences University are studying whether inhibiting an enzyme that reduces levels of a protective metabolite could halt the progression of diabetic nephropathy, or kidney disease resulting from diabetes.

16 Mar 2011

Hospitals with higher diagnosis frequency for chronic conditions have lower case-fatality rate

An examination of data for more than 5 million Medicare beneficiaries finds that hospital regions that have a greater frequency of diagnoses have a lower case-fatality rate for chronic conditions such as coronary artery disease and kidney failure, according to a study in the March 16 issue of JAMA.

16 Mar 2011

New self-monitoring blood glucose sensor uses tear fluid as sample

People with diabetes could be helped by a new type of self-monitoring blood glucose sensor being developed by Arizona State University engineers and clinicians at Mayo Clinic in Arizona.

16 Mar 2011

Researchers identify genetic cause of magnesium deficiency

Researchers and scientists of the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, in cooperation with the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, and colleagues from the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and the Czech Republic have succeeded in identifying a genetic cause of magnesium deficiency.

16 Mar 2011

Gadavist approved by FDA for use in central nervous system MRI scans

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Gadavist (gadobutrol), a gadolinium-based contrast agent, for use in patients undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the central nervous system.

16 Mar 2011

Type 2 diabetes drug less likely to cause weight gain, raise cholesterol levels

An inexpensive type 2 diabetes drug that has been around for more than 15 years works just as well and has fewer side effects than a half-dozen other, mostly newer and more expensive classes of medication used to control the chronic disease, new Johns Hopkins research suggests.

15 Mar 2011

Researchers discover new gene for Sensenbrenner syndrome

Dutch researchers of the Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen found a new gene for Sensenbrenner syndrome (Journal of Medical Genetics, 2011 Mar 4). The mutation adds support to the hypothesis that defects in ciliar transport are the cause of the disease. Project leader Dr. Heleen H. Arts is supported by a Kolff Junior Postdoc Grant of the Dutch Kidney Foundation.

14 Mar 2011

New drug for Lupus approved

A new drug for lupus has won U.S. approval. The drug, Benlysta from Human Genome Sciences Inc., is administered once a month intravenously.

12 Mar 2011

Scientific advances at Scripps Research lay foundation for new lupus drug Benlysta

Scientific advances at The Scripps Research Institute were key to laying the foundation for the new drug Benlysta® (belimumab), approved today by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Benlysta®, which treats the most common type of lupus, is the first in a new class of pharmaceuticals that prevents the body from attacking its own critical tissues.

11 Mar 2011

FMCNA encourages high blood pressure, diabetes people to learn about risk of CKD

Diabetes and high blood pressure are the two leading causes of chronic kidney disease, a health problem that is growing at an alarming rate in the United States. There are 26 million Americans who have CKD, and millions more are at increased risk and may not even know it.

11 Mar 2011

Organ removal surgery through body's orifices, without any visible incisions

The Chicago Park District physical instructor needed a way to get the surgery performed without being laid up for weeks so she opted for an innovative minimally invasive procedure called Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) that would allow surgeons to perform organ removal surgery without any visible incisions and have her back on her feet the same day.

11 Mar 2011

NIH awards Avaxia Phase I SBIR grant to develop novel antibody therapeutic for celiac disease

Avaxia Biologics, Inc., a privately-held biotech company using its proprietary platform technology to develop orally-active antibody therapeutics for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases, announced today that it has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to support the development of a novel antibody therapeutic for celiac disease.

11 Mar 2011

Seattle Children's Hospital inaugurates new dialysis unit

Today, timed with World Kidney Day, Seattle Children's Hospital announced the opening of its newly renovated dialysis unit. The unit will significantly improve patient comfort and safety compared to its predecessor facility, and includes an additional 630 square feet of space for a total of nearly 2,400 square feet.

11 Mar 2011

Depression is linked with increased risk of developing kidney failure

Depression is associated with an increased risk of developing kidney failure in the future, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

10 Mar 2011