No abstract

A patient with excessive industrial exposure to silicon and an elevated silicon content in his renal tissue was found to have a distinctive nephropathy, characterized pathologically by changes in the glomeruli and proximal tubules, and manifested clinically by albuminuria and hypertension. Proximal tubular function was intact. From a biochemical standpoint, this finding correlates with the demonstration in vitro that, in contrast to cadmium, a known cause of Fanconi syndrome, silicon does not inhibit renal cortical sodium-potassium-adenosine triphosphatase (Na-K-ATPase).

\s=b\ A cross-sectional survey of 32 children who received renal allografts was undertaken to evaluate lipid profiles in a pediatric transplant population. Ages ranged from 8 to 18 years, and serum creatinine concentrations varied from 0.5 to 5.6 mg/100 ml (mean, 1.4 mg/100 ml). Fifty percent of patients showed an abnormal lipoprotein electrophoresis, and these were evenly divided between type II and type IV patterns. The data suggest that patients with type II pattern tend to be receiving higher doses of prednisone, and increasing levels of cholesterol and triglyceride are also associated with higher corticosteroid dosages. In contrast to the observations of others in dialysis patients, measurements of glucose metabolism such as fasting blood sugar and fasting insulin levels were not associated with lipid abnormalities in this population. Lipid abnormalities following renal transplantation in children are similar to those described in adults, and may contribute to morbidity in the years following successful renal transplantation.(Am J Dis Child 130: [951][952][953] 1976) Renal transplantation has now be¬ come an acceptable mode of therapy for chronic renal failure in children. The long-term effects of this therapy, however, are not well estab¬ lished. Hyperlipidemia, for example, has been described after renal trans¬ plantation in adults,1J and cardiovas-(Dr Lowrie). cular disease is the second leading cause of mortality in adult transplant recipients.' If abnormalities in lipid metabolism were also present in chil¬ dren, increased cardiovascular mor¬ bidity might well result. We therefore undertook a cross-sectional study of children who had received a renal transplant at this center, to evaluate lipid profiles in a pediatrie transplant population SUBJECTS AND METHODS Of 49 kidney transplants performed at Children's Hospital Medical Center, Bos¬ ton, between May 1971 and June 1974, thirty-two grafts were still functioning at the time of this study. Of these, 28 patients (15 boys and 13 girls) were evaluated.Those not included were two individuals with diabetes mellitus and two who failed to report for testing while in the fasting state. Ages ranged from 8 to 18 years (mean, 13.5 ± 3.6 SD) and patients had been followed up for from 2 to 39 months after transplantation (mean, 14.4 months).Peripheral venous blood was obtained after an overnight fast for determination of creatinine, cholesterol, and triglycéride levels and lipoprotein electrophoresis (LEP) in all patients. In addition, levels of fasting blood sugar (FBS) and plasma immunoreactive insulin (IRI) were mea¬ sured in 22 patients. Ideal body weight for height was determined for each patient from a standard pediatrie anthropométrie chart.1 Immunosuppressive therapy in¬ cluded prednisone in all patients. In addi¬ tion, 26 also received azathioprine, one received cyclophosphamide, and one re¬ ceived no additional immunosuppressive agent.Plasma glucose, creatinine, triglycéride, and cholesterol levels were determined by a device for automated chemical ...

A S T R A CT Homogenates of kidneys from hydropenic and volume-expanded rats were subjected to gel filtration with Sephadex G-25. A fraction of the eluate coincident with the fourth UV peak was injected into the aorta of rats with one kidney excluded. A fraction eluting before the albumin peak was utilized as a control. Significant natriuresis and diuresis were observed after infusion of the fraction obtained from volumeexpanded kidneys but not after infusion of the fraction from hvdropenic kidneys or the control fraction.