Active clinical trials for "Kidney Failure, Chronic"

Hypothesis: 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels in non-itching hemodialysis (HD) patients will be higher than those in HD patients with itching 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels will be measured in non-itching hemodialysis patients and compared to levels previously measured in a previous study of 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels of patients complaining of itching.

Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) have a high prevalence of impaired glucose metabolism. The pathophysiological cause is uncertain, but disturbances in the secretion, elimination and effect of glucagon, insulin and the two incretin hormones glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), probably play important roles. Our research group has previously found that dialysis patients without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have a reduced incretin effect and an inability to suppress glucagon after a meal - two early pathophysiological characteristics of patients with T2DM and normal kidney function. The aim of the project is to provide a detailed description of the mechanisms underlying the (patho)physiological effects of the incretin hormones in patients with ESRD. We plan to investigate the above mentioned disturbances during fasting and hyperglycaemic conditions using incretin infusions during glucose clamping. Furthermore, stable isotopic tracers will be used to determine the effect of the incretin hormones on the endogenous glucose handling. We hypothesise that the effects of the incretin hormones in ESRD will be reduced in respect to healthy control subjects.

Although remarkable progress has been made, chronic kidney disease still poses a major burden on both individual patients, as well as on society as a whole. There is a strong inverse relationship between decreasing renal function, as estimated by glomerular filtration rate, and mortality rate, especially death due to cardiovascular disease. The exact cause(s) remain to be elucidated. Uremic toxins might play an important role. In the course of decreasing renal function the concentration of numerous intracellular and extracellular compounds vary from the non-uremic state. But still increasing number of uremic retention solutes are being identified. Renal replacement strategies aim to remove potentially harmful substances from the body. Traditionally much attention has been paid to small water-soluble molecules such as urea nitrogen and creatinine. Based on the results of the recent HEMO and ADEMEX studies, increases of small water-soluble solute removal above the level reached with modern dialysis techniques - hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis (HD, PD) - seem not to be advantageous with regard to patient outcome. These findings may point to the importance of other distinct groups of uremic retention solutes. In view of the data described above, protein-bound solutes might be good candidates. Several advantages of long duration hemodialysis have been observed, including a better control of blood pressure by decreasing extracellular fluid volume, lowering peripheral vascular resistance and improving endothelium-dependent and -independent vasodilation. A normalization of heart rate variability and improvement of left-ventricular function was noted as well. Furthermore, anemia control has been shown to be easier and several nutritional parameters improved in patients treated with long duration HD. The therapy results in higher small water-soluble solute removal, phosphate removal and greater elimination of larger molecules (e.g. β2-microglobulin). It seems an appealing question whether a better control of the serum levels of protein-bound solutes can be achieved by long duration (nocturnal) hemodialysis. This might be another advantage of this therapeutic modality, or may even in part explain the better outcome of patients treated this way. The study compares intermittent hemodialysis with long nocturnal hemodialysis with respect to serum concentrations of several protein bound uremic toxins, as well as solute removal.

Urinary kallikrein excretion is known to increase in patients with nephrotic syndrome and sick cell disease, but decrease in patients with chronic kidney disease or uremia. Some of authors consider urinary kallikrein is a marker of nephropathy. To evaluate the possible role of kallikrein kinin system in chronic kidney disease, we conduct a retrospective longitudinal observation study. Patients who participating in the "Efficacy of Pentoxifylline on Chronic Kidney Disease" study are included in the study. The morning spot urinary kallikrein and cytokines are measured at the time point of 0 and 12 month in addition to clinical parameters. The correlation of urinary kallikrein and cytokine concentration will be evaluated. Using multiple regression model, the relationship of urinary kallikrein excretion with degree of proteinuria, creatinine clearance and other clinical parameter will also be evaluated.

The bowel can serve as a complement to the kidneys' excretory function A specifically formulated probiotic product comprised of defined and tested microbial strains may afford renoprotection in what has been called "enteric dialysis"® Confirm the alleviation of uremic syndrome hypothesis Determine the outcome of probiotics treatment Confirm U.S. FDA's Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) status - if needed

This study will evaluate the effects of more frequent dialysis on cognitive function including the assessment of sleep apnea and restless legs. Our hypothesis is that more frequent dialysis improves cognitive function and may have important implications on clinical care of ESRD patients and help to emphasize the need for treatments that will allow patients to live "with dialysis" rather than live "for dialysis".

Arterial stiffness refers to the accumulation of extracellular deposits of matrix and calcium which reduce blood vessel compliance. Although there is growing evidence that increased arterial stiffness is associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD), its pathogenesis is unclear. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index (AIx) provide tools for estimating arterial stiffness, and therefore predicting cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The aims of the study are: (1) compare the effects of nocturnal and conventional haemodialysis on arterial stiffness, and (2) examine the relationship between arterial stiffness and clinical and biochemical parameters.

Background: Recent data indicate that home nocturnal hemodialysis (8 hours of hemodialysis at home for 5-6 nights per week) may have substantial cardiovascular benefits, including regression of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy, improved LV ejection fraction and blood pressure control. Nevertheless, this dialysis modality is only feasible in a highly-selected minority of ESRD patients, who can self-manage their dialysis treatment at home. In-centre nocturnal hemodialysis (INHD), administered as 7-8 hours of hemodialysis in hospital for 3 nights per week, represents an appealing and practical alternative. As this is a novel form of therapy, there has been no definitive study examining the cardiovascular impact of INHD to date. Objective: To determine the effects of INHD on LV mass, global and regional systolic and diastolic function, and other cardiovascular biomarkers in patients with ESRD. Hypothesis: Conversion from conventional hemodialysis to INHD is associated with favourable changes in cardiac structure and function in patients with ESRD. Rationale for Using Cardiac MRI: Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) has emerged as the new gold standard for measuring LV mass, volume, global and regional myocardial function. Its accuracy and precision make it the imaging modality of choice for studying the small number of patients currently undergoing or awaiting INHD. Study Design and Population: This is a prospective cohort study of adult ESRD patients who are currently receiving conventional in-centre hemodialysis and will be converted to INHD. Patients will be managed as per standard clinical practice (e.g. blood pressure, anemia management) established for the INHD program, and no therapeutic intervention will be performed as part of this study. All eligible patients will undergo two serial CMR examinations: within 2 weeks prior to conversion and at 52 weeks following conversion to INHD. We also plan to recruit a population of control patients who have elected to remain on conventional HD. These individuals will be asked to undergo the same set of investigations at baseline and 12 months thereafter. Outcome: The primary endpoints are the temporal changes in LV mass and size, global and regional diastolic and systolic function at 52 weeks after conversion to INHD, as measured by cardiac MRI. Secondary endpoints include changes in myocardial tissue characteristics, blood pressure, mineral metabolic parameters, anemia control, serum troponin, norepinephrine, brain natriuretic peptide, markers of inflammation and quality of life. Significance: The provision of an enhanced dialysis regimen has emerged as the most promising avenue through which to modify the dismal cardiovascular outcomes in patients receiving chronic hemodialysis. INHD represents a means of administering such therapy to a broad spectrum of dialysis patients for whom home therapies would not be feasible. The proposed study will be the first to precisely define the cardiac impact of INHD using CMR. The findings may justify large randomized controlled trials evaluating clinical outcomes. If INHD is proven to be effective, it will have a major impact on the management and outcome of many patients with ESRD in Canada.

American hemodialysis patients are frequently malnourished. This contributes to dialysis patient mortality rates that are the highest in the industrialized world at 22% per year. Poor nutritional status probably also contributes to high health care costs (an average of two hospitalizations annually per patient and total Medicare expenditures of $11 billion per year) and diminished quality of life. The researchers' prior work identified several potentially modifiable nutritional barriers (e.g. poor appetite, inadequate dialysis dose, poor nutritional knowledge, low fluid intake, and needing help shopping and cooking) and pilot tested a promising approach to overcome these barriers. This proposed community-based randomized controlled trial extends the researchers' prior work by targeting specific nutritional barriers with a tailored feedback and education intervention. Approximately 40 dialysis facilities in northeast Ohio will be randomly assigned to intervention and control groups, with approximately 100 malnourished patients enrolled from 20 intervention facilities and 100 from 20 control facilities. Baseline evaluation will include measures of nutritional status, specific barriers, inpatient expenditures, and quality of life. On a monthly basis for 12 months, intervention patients and their dietitians will receive tailored feedback and education on overcoming patient-specific barriers. They will then meet monthly to jointly formulate a care plan addressing these barriers. Control patients will continue to get usual care. Major analyses will compare changes in nutritional parameters in intervention vs. control patients with adjustment for nesting of patients within facilities. The proposed project will test a novel intervention that targets patients and providers as they together make nutrition-related decisions. Overcoming specific barriers may lead not only to improved nutritional status but also to better patient survival, decreased health care costs, and increased quality of life.

Chronic transplant rejection remains the main cause of late kidney graft loss. We showed previously that patients with pretransplant CD4 helper defects and low in-vitro IL-10 responses demonstrated an extremely low risk of acute rejection and a significantly better 1- and 3-year graft function whereas pretransplant Th1 responses were not predictive (Weimer R et al. 1996 and 1998). In liver transplant recipients, we found CD4 helper function and in-vitro IL-10 responses significantly decreased compared to CsA-treated patients (Zipperle et al. 1997). If the same effect will be demonstrated in renal transplant recipients, Tacrolimus (Tacr) treatment might result in enhanced graft survival compared to CsA, when CD4 helper function and in-vitro IL-10 responses of the individual patient are elevated. Other studies of our group suggest a beneficial role of enhanced T-suppressor activity and of an IL-6 independent B cell/monocyte defect in the maintenance of long-term stable graft function, whereas enhanced monokine secretion (TNF-a, GM-CSF, IL-6) was found in chronic rejection (Weimer et al. 1990, 1992, 1994, 1998). In the current randomized prospective study we will analyze the impact of CsA versus Tacr and of MMF versus azathioprine on Th1, Th2 and monokine responses and their predictive value regarding occurrence of acute and chronic rejection. With a proposed follow-up of 5 years this study might enable a patient-tailored immunosuppressive therapy resulting in prolonged graft survival.