Background and objectives Alport syndrome comprises a group of inherited heterogeneous disorders involving CKD, hearing loss, and ocular abnormalities. Autosomal dominant Alport syndrome caused by heterozygous mutations in collagen 4A3 and/or collagen 4A4 accounts for ,5% of patients. However, the clinical, genetic, and pathologic backgrounds of patients with autosomal dominant Alport syndrome remain unclear.Design, setting, participants, & measurements We conducted a retrospective analysis of 25 patients with genetically proven autosomal dominant Alport syndrome and their family members (a total of 72 patients) from 16 unrelated families. Patients with suspected Alport syndrome after pathologic examination who were referred from anywhere in Japan for genetic analysis from 2006 to 2015 were included in this study. Clinical, laboratory, and pathologic data were collected from medical records at the point of registration for genetic diagnosis. Genetic analysis was performed by targeted resequencing of 27 podocyte-related genes, including Alport-related collagen genes, to make a diagnosis of autosomal dominant Alport syndrome and identify modifier genes or double mutations. Clinical data were obtained from medical records.Results The median renal survival time was 70 years, and the median age at first detection of proteinuria was 17 years old. There was one patient with hearing loss and one patient with ocular lesion. Among 16 patients who underwent kidney biopsy, three showed FSGS, and seven showed thinning without lamellation of the glomerular basement membrane. Five of 13 detected mutations were reported to be causative mutations for autosomal recessive Alport syndrome in previous studies. Two families possessed double mutations in both collagen 4A3 and collagen 4A4, but no modifier genes were detected among the other podocyte-related genes.Conclusions The renal phenotype of autosomal dominant Alport syndrome was much milder than that of autosomal recessive Alport syndrome or X-linked Alport syndrome in men. It may, thus, be difficult to make an accurate diagnosis of autosomal dominant Alport syndrome on the basis of clinical or pathologic findings. No modifier genes were identified among the known podocyte-related genes.

Cyst infection is a frequent and serious complication of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). Lipid-soluble antibiotics like fluoroquinolones show good penetration into cysts and are recommended for cyst infection, but causative microorganisms are often resistant to these agents. This study investigated the profile of the microorganisms causing cyst infection in ADPKD, their susceptibility to lipid-soluble antibiotics, and clinical outcomes. This retrospective study reviewed all ADPKD patients admitted to Toranomon Hospital with a diagnosis of cyst infection from January 2004 to March 2014. All patients who underwent cyst drainage and had positive cyst fluid cultures were enrolled. Patients with positive blood cultures who satisfied our criteria for cyst infection or probable infection were also enrolled. There were 99 episodes with positive cyst fluid cultures and 93 episodes with positive blood cultures. The majority of patients were on dialysis. The death rate was high when infection was caused by multiple microorganisms or when there were multiple infected cysts. Gram-negative bacteria accounted for 74-79 % of the isolates in all groups, except for patients with positive hepatic cyst fluid cultures. The susceptibility of Escherichia coli to fluoroquinolones was very low in patients with hepatic cyst infection, especially those with frequent episodes and those with hepatomegaly. Fungi were detected in two episodes. Fluoroquinolone-resistant microorganisms showed a high prevalence in cyst infection. It is important to identify causative microorganisms to avoid the overuse of fluoroquinolones and to improve the outcome of cyst infection in ADPKD.

We report unpredictable atypical splicing in the gene in male patients with XLAS and reveal that renal prognosis differs significantly for patients with truncating versus nontruncating splicing abnormalities. Our results suggest that splicing modulation should be explored as a therapy for XLAS with truncating mutations.

The oral mucosa exhibits unique regenerative properties, sometimes referred to as foetal-like wound healing. Researchers from our institute have used sheets of oral mucosa epithelial cells (OMECs) for regenerative medicine applications including cornea replacement and oesophageal epithelial regeneration for stricture prevention. Here, we have isolated exosomes from clinical-grade production of OMEC sheets from healthy human donors (n = 8), aiming to evaluate the clinical potential of the exosomes to stimulate epithelial regeneration and to improve understanding of the mode-of-action of the cells. Exosomes were isolated from conditioned (cExo) and non-conditioned (ncExo) media. Characterization was performed using Western blot for common exosomal-markers: CD9 and flotillin were positive while annexin V, EpCam and contaminating marker GRP94 were negative. Nanoparticle tracking analysis revealed a diameter of ~120 nm and transmission electron microscopy showed a corresponding size and spherical appearance. Human skin fibroblasts exposed to exosomes showed dose-dependent reduction of proliferation and a considerable increase of growth factor gene expression (HGF, VEGFA, FGF2 and CTGF). The results were similar for both groups, but with a trend towards a larger effect from cExo. To study adhesion, fluorescently labelled exosomes were topically applied to pig oesophageal wound-beds ex vivo and subsequently washed. Positive signal could be detected after as little as 1 min of adhesion, but increased adhesion time produced a stronger signal. Next, labelled exosomes were added to full-thickness skin wounds in rats and signal was detected up to 5 days after application. cExo significantly reduced the wound size at days 6 and 17. In conclusion, exosomes from OMEC sheets showed pro-regenerative effects on skin wound healing. This is the first time that the healing capacity of the oral mucosa is studied from an exosome perspective. These findings might lead to a combinational therapy of cell sheets and exosomes for future patients with early oesophageal cancer.

Once-weekly teriparatide was associated with increased lumbar spine BMD in hemodialysis patients with hypoparathyroidism and low bone mass. Careful monitoring should be required for treatment of such patients.