Kidney News and Research

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Pig iPSCs can safely incorporate into tissues without tumor formation

Pig stem cell research conducted by two animal scientists at the University of Georgia reveals a better way to determine the safety of future stem cell therapies than rodent-based models.

12 Dec 2011

Burned military casualties with AKI may have adverse outcomes

Acute kidney injury (AKI), an abrupt or rapid decline in kidney function, is a serious and increasingly prevalent condition. Little information has been available about how common or how severe AKI is in military personnel who are injured during combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. A new study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN) investigates this question in those burned during combat.

12 Dec 2011

ACE inhibitors, ARBs have different effects on heart health of dialysis patients

Two seemingly similar blood pressure-lowering drugs have different effects on the heart health of dialysis patients, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

12 Dec 2011

Most patients with AKI do not see kidney specialists within a year

Most patients with an abrupt kidney injury that does not get better do not see a kidney specialist within a year, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

12 Dec 2011

Roundup: Ohio lawmakers consider abortion bill; Aetna sues Mich. Blues

An Ohio lawmaker on Wednesday touted the importance of the fetal heartbeat as an indicator of life as he urged a legislative panel to support a bill that would impose the nation's most stringent abortion limit. The measure would outlaw abortions at the first detectable fetal heartbeat. That's sometimes as early as six weeks into pregnancy.

9 Dec 2011

Scientists uncover three new locations for Crohn's Disease genes

Three new locations for Crohn's Disease genes have been uncovered by scientists at UCL using a novel gene mapping approach.

9 Dec 2011

ChemoCentryx commences CCX140 Phase II trial in diabetic nephropathy

ChemoCentryx, Inc. today announced the initiation of a Phase II clinical trial for CCX140, an orally-administered small molecule for the treatment of diabetic kidney disease.

9 Dec 2011

FDA advisory panel OKs anemia drug peginesatide

Once approved by the FDA, the once-monthly injection could capture a share of the $3 billion U.S. market for anemia drugs used for kidney dialysis patients, currently dominated by Amgen Inc's blockbuster Epogen. Affymax, which developed the drug with partner Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, is also expected to price its product below Epogen.

8 Dec 2011

Ixabepilone-sunitinib combination holds potential against chemotherapy-resistant ovarian cancer

The use of two drugs never tried in combination before in ovarian cancer resulted in a 70 percent destruction of cancer cells already resistant to commonly used chemotherapy agents, say researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida.

8 Dec 2011

Relaxin improves poor blood flow and kidney function in a rat model of PKD

After a four-week course of the vasodilator hormone relaxin, kidney function and blood flow immediately improved in lab rats genetically altered to model polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a life-threatening genetic disorder, according to research presented on Dec. 6 at the American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting in Denver.

7 Dec 2011

New updated site shows how well UMHS provides care in clinical settings

Plenty of hospitals and medical providers claim they do a great job at caring for patients and protecting their safety during care. But very few actually publish the cold, hard numbers that could prove those claims. And even fewer do it like the University of Michigan Health System has: on a website open to anyone, with dozens of charts and graphs showing actual performance and comparisons to national averages and benchmarks.

7 Dec 2011

SG Austria, Nuvilex use live cell encapsulation technology and treat diabetes in animal model

Nuvilex, Inc. announced today their affiliate SG Austria and partners have successfully treated diabetes in an established, recognized animal model utilizing live encapsulated cells.

7 Dec 2011

Mayo Clinic in Florida now offers kidney and pancreas transplants for HIV-positive patients

Mayo Clinic in Florida is now offering kidney and pancreas transplants to HIV positive patients with advanced kidney disease and diabetes. Evidence is now solid that HIV-positive patients have the same favorable outcome in terms of patient and allograft survival as non-HIV positive organ transplant recipients, says Mary Prendergast, M.D., a kidney specialist whose focus is the care of patients who receive kidney and pancreas transplants.

7 Dec 2011

Obese, overweight people at increased risk of cancer

More than a quarter of obese and overweight people do not want to lose weight and many more are unaware of the benefits brought by a healthy lifestyle, a new survey by Cancer Research UK reveals..

7 Dec 2011

Researchers reveal how podocytes may regenerate themselves during normal kidney function

Damage to podocytes -- a specialized type of epithelial cell in the kidney -- occurs in more than 90 percent of all chronic kidney disease. Now researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have uncovered an unexpected pathway that reveals for the first time how these cells may regenerate and renew themselves during normal kidney function.

6 Dec 2011

Spectrum seeks FDA IND approval for SPI-014 to treat hyperphosphatemia

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals today announced that it has submitted an investigational new drug (IND) application to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for SPI-014 (previously referred to as RENAZORB), a second-generation lanthanum-based nanoparticle phosphate binding agent, that has the potential to treat hyperphosphatemia in patients with Stage 5 chronic kidney disease, or end-stage renal disease (ESRD).

5 Dec 2011

Better medical care for kidney failure in Germany

In complex cases of kidney failure, medical care in Germany evidently operates better than in the US. Scientists at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin were able to show that German patients who have an increased risk of rejection reactions due to prior immunization have better survival rates than people with diseases of similar severity in the US.

3 Dec 2011

NIAAA awards Rutgers $10M grant to explore genetic links to alcoholism

Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository (RUCDR) has received a $10 million grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) to provide DNA extraction, basic genetic testing, and repository services for more than 46,000 saliva samples, in support of national research efforts to determine the genetic and environmental factors that lead to alcoholism.

3 Dec 2011

Obstacles people with type 2 diabetes face that prevent them from getting ultimate treatment

Eli Lilly and Company today announced it is conducting the first major international, prospective observational study designed to understand the real-world obstacles that people with type 2 diabetes face that prevent them from reaching their ultimate treatment goals.

2 Dec 2011

Immune system stimulant used as suppressor to treat chronic graft-versus-host disease

In a study that seems to pivot on a paradox, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have used an immune system stimulant as an immune system suppressor to treat a common, often debilitating side effect of donor stem cell transplantation in cancer patients. The effect, in some cases, was profound.

1 Dec 2011