Active clinical trials for "Renal Insufficiency"

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that increased dosages of mycophenolic acid in maintenance kidney transplant recipients may cause a reduction in donor-specific antibodies.

Objective: To evaluate how rosiglitazone does influence the renal plasma flow, the glomerular filtration rate and the degree of proteinuria in type 2 diabetic patients with renal insufficiency due to overt diabetic nephropathy. Background: Diabetic nephropathy is a world wide public health concern of increasing proportions. It has become the most common single cause of end-stage renal disease in the United States and in Europe. Previous studies have already found agents modifying the renin-angiotensin-system (ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blocker) to retard diabetic nephropathy. These agents are likely to exert multiple effects in the kidney. One of them appear to be their known ability to improve endothelial function and to change renal glomerular hemodynamics. In a previous study we demonstrated an improvement of renal endothelial dysfunction in type 2 diabetic patients without end organ damage after treatment with rosiglitazone. In that study, rosiglitazone significantly reduced glomerular hyperfiltration. This was associated with a reduction of urinary albumin excretion. The observed effects are potentially important in the context of renal protection, provided that a similar beneficial effect of rosiglitazone is demonstrable in overt diabetic nephropathy (renal insufficiency, hypertension, proteinuria). Hypothesis Rosiglitazone decreases proteinuria and improves renal hemodynamic function in patients with chronic renal insufficiency due to overt diabetic nephropathy.

Patients within the intensive care unit who have severe infections causing shock and kidney failure have almost a 60% risk of dying despite antibiotic therapy, surgical drainage of the site of infection and intensive care support with fluids, nutrition, mechanical ventilation and continuous artificial kidney support. This persistently high death rate continues to stimulate the development of new approaches to the treatment of septic shock. Much clinical and molecular biology research suggests that these patients die because of an uncontrolled immune system's response to infection. This response involves the production of several substances (so called "humoral mediators"), which enter the blood stream and affect the patient's organs ability to function and the patient's ability to kill germs. These substances may potentially be removed by new artificial filters similar to those currently used during continuous hemofiltration (the type of artificial kidney support used in intensive care). Recent investigations by ourselves and others, however, have made the following findings: Standard filters currently used in intensive care are ineffective in removing large amounts of these "humoral mediators" because the holes in the filter are too small to allow all of them to pass through The standard filters currently used in intensive care are also ineffective in removing large amounts of these "humoral mediators" because the standard filtration flow through the membrane is less than 100 ml/min When the filtration flow through the membrane is increased to above 100ml/min, patients require a lesser dose of drugs to support their blood pressure which is an indirect sign that the filters are clearing some of the "humoral mediators" Even when the blood flow through standard filters is increased to above 100ml/min, there is still not optimal clearing of "humoral mediators" It is possible, however, that, using a different filter membrane with bigger holes in it, would make it easier to clear the blood of these "humoral mediators". It is thought that this would be noticeable clinically in the amount of drugs required to support blood pressure. A filter that has these bigger holes is now available. It is made of the same material as the standard filters that are currently used in the intensive care unit, only the holes have been made bigger to allow these "humoral mediators" to be removed from the blood. This polyamide filter is made of synthetic semipermeable material. This material is highly compatible with human blood. This modified polyamide filter is made of exactly the same compatible material but the holes in the material are slightly larger through a minor modification of the manufacturing process. This larger hole filter has now been used in preliminary studies in humans and has been found to reduce the blood levels of some "humoral mediators". Laboratory studies conducted by ourselves showed that this new filter can achieve the highest reported clearance of some of the "humoral mediators" with minimal effect on useful proteins in blood such as albumin during hemodialysis. This loss is very small and unlikely to contribute to any detectable clinical changes. We, therefore, now propose to study the effect of using new large hole filters with hemodialysis in patients with severe infections and acute kidney failure. We wish to compare the effect of this new therapy to that of standard filters. The new therapy will be considered to be effective if it lowers the amount of drugs used to support blood pressure and if it lowers the blood levels of some "humoral mediators" more than standard therapy. We will also monitor blood levels of important components of blood such as albumin and electrolytes in each group. This is a pilot study involving only 10 patients who will each receive 4 hours of the standard therapy and 4 hours of the new therapy. Which treatment the patient receives first will be random (like the tossing of a coin). Blood samples will be taken at the start and after 4 hours of each treatment. The waste product of dialysis called spent dialysate will also be collected for the measurement of humoral mediators at the start and after 4 hours of each treatment. The changes in blood pressure and drugs used to support it will be recorded hourly. As patients involved in the study would normally receive hemofiltration because of their kidney failure, all the risks and benefits associated with the procedure would be unchanged. The only risk to patients would come from exposure to a modified membrane and from having two additional spoonfuls of blood taken. If this new membrane were found to have a major effect on the blood level of "humoral mediators" and on the patients' blood pressure, further studies would then be justified to assess its clinical effects (time in ICU, time in hospital, time on ventilator, duration of organ failure, etc).

Assessing the safety, efficacy and pharmacokinetics of SPP100 (Aliskiren) regimen in hypertensive patients with renal dysfunction

Severely ill patients admitted to the intensive care unit may develop an acute failure of kidney function. To bridge the period to recovery, renal function is temporarily replaced by continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH). To prevent clotting of the hemofiltration circuit, heparin is generally used, providing anticoagulation in the circuit and the patient. As a result, bleeding complications may occur, necessitating the transfusion of blood. Anticoagulation of the circuit can also be obtained with the use of tri-sodium citrate, which provides anticoagulation of the circuit without affecting coagulation in the patient and thus without increasing his/her risk of bleeding. The use of citrate may however cause metabolic complications. Primary aim of the present study is to show in a larger group of intensive care patients whether the use of regional anticoagulation with citrate is safe compared to systemic anticoagulation with the low molecular weight heparin nadroparin.

This pilot study will compare the effects of sodium ferric gluconate complex and iron sucrose on urine concentrations of various chemicals including protein

An hematocrit of 21-25% is supposed to perform the best organ protection during cardiopulmonary bypass for cardiac surgery. The investigators want to establish the best timing for a transfusion (in patients with a predicted low hematocrit during cardiopulmonary bypass) and the efficacy of preprocedural hemodilution (in patients with a predicted high hematocrit during cardiopulmonary bypass) in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of recipient vein pretreatment of edifoligide (E2F Decoy), compared to placebo, on graft/recipient vein stenosis in polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) vascular access grafts placed for hemodialysis at 6 months after enrollment.

High blood pressure (hypertension) affects up to 80% of all patients receiving haemodialysis for chronic kidney disease (CKD). High blood pressure is a major cause cardiovascular disease (i.e. strokes, heart attacks and heart failure) and, thereby, cardiovascular deaths in these patients. A significant cause of raised blood pressure in haemodialysis patients is thought to be due to retention of salt in the body. In healthy people the kidneys excrete salt but the kidneys of patients with CKD cannot do this, so salt has to be removed by dialysis. However dialysis cannot remove as much salt as is necessary, and so it accumulates. This fact has been recognized for many years, and health professionals caring for haemodialysis patients often stress the importance of restriction of dietary salt intake. However no research has looked in detail at the mechanisms by which salt raises blood pressure in haemodialysis patients. It is likely that salt directly affects thirst, causing patients to drink more and become overloaded with fluid. In addition, salt may have direct effects on the blood vessel wall, causing failure of adequate blood vessel relaxation. Both of these factors may raise blood pressure. We will conduct a carefully controlled crossover study looking at the effects of a modest reduction in salt intake on BP. During the course of the study, which will last eight weeks, patients will receive both a 5 gram per day and a 10 gram per day salt intake. We will look at how thirst, fluid intake, a number of markers of blood vessel function and blood pressure differ on these two salt intakes.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether a combined bone marrow and kidney transplant will be effective in treating stage II or greater multiple myeloma and associated kidney failure. This study will determine whether transplant rejection and the need for immunosuppressive drugs are decreased with this combined transplant approach.