Gustafssonkrogh9402

To determine associations between severity of hypertension and risk of starting dialysis in the presence or absence of diabetes mellitus (DM). A nationwide database with claims data on 258 874 people with and without DM aged 19-72 years in Japan was used to elucidate the impact of severity of hypertension on starting dialysis. Initiation of dialysis was determined from claims using International Classification of Diseases-10 codes and medical procedures. Using multivariate Cox modeling, we investigated the severity of hypertension to predict the initiation of dialysis with and without DM. Hypertension was significantly associated with the initiation of dialysis regardless of DM. The incidence of starting dialysis in those with systolic blood pressure (SBP) ≤119 mm Hg and DM (DM+) was almost the same as in those with SBP ≥150 mm Hg and absence of DM (DM-). In comparison with SBP ≤119 mm Hg, SBP ≥150 mm Hg significantly increased the risk of the initiation of dialysis about 2.5 times regardless of DM+ or DM-. Compared with DM- and SBP ≤119 mm Hg, the HR for DM+ and SBP ≥150 mm Hg was 6.88 (95% CI 3.66 to 12.9). Although the risks of hypertension differed only slightly regardless of the presence or absence of DM, risks for starting dialysis with DM+ and SBP ≤119 mm Hg were equivalent to DM- and SBP ≥150 mm Hg, indicating more strict blood pressure interventions in DM+ are needed to avoid dialysis. Future studies are required to clarify the cut-off SBP level to avoid initiation of dialysis considering the risks of strict control of blood pressure.Multiple-time-point SPECT/CT imaging for dosimetry is burdensome for patients and lacks statistical efficiency. A novel method for joint kidney time-activity estimation based on a statistical mixed model, a prior cohort of patients with complete time-activity data, and only 1 or 2 imaging points for new patients was compared with previously proposed single-time-point methods in virtual and clinical patient data. Methods Data were available for 10 patients with neuroendocrine tumors treated with 177Lu-DOTATATE and imaged up to 4 times between days 0 and 7 using SPECT/CT. Mixed models using 1 or 2 time points were evaluated retrospectively in the clinical cohort, using the multiple-time-point fit as the reference. Time-activity data for 250 virtual patients were generated using parameter values from the clinical cohort. Mixed models were fit using 1 (∼96 h) and 2 (4 h, ∼96 h) time points for each virtual patient combined with complete data for the other patients in each dataset. Time-integrated activities (TIAs) calculated from mixed model fits and other reduced-time-point methods were compared with known values. Results All mixed models and single-time-point methods performed well overall, achieving mean bias 10% (6% vs. 15%). Conclusion Mixed models based on a historical cohort of patients with complete time-activity data and new patients with only 1 or 2 SPECT/CT scans demonstrate less bias on average and significantly fewer outliers when estimating kidney TIA, compared with popular reduced-time-point methods. Use of mixed models allows for reduction of the imaging burden while maintaining accuracy, which is crucial for clinical implementation of dosimetry-based treatment.We investigated the association between variants rs12997 in activin A receptor type I (ACVR1) and rs1043784 in BMP6 located in the 3' untranslated region, and primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). The retrospective case-control study used TaqMan real-time PCR assay to genotype 400 subjects, including 150 patients with POAG and 250 controls. The minor 'G' allele of rs12997 in ACVR1 showed significant association with POAG (p=0.027, OR=1.39, 95% CI=1.03 to 1.87). Likewise, rs12997 genotypes showed moderate association with POAG in recessive (p=0.048, OR=1.80, 95% CI=1.01 to 3.20) and log-additive models (p=0.030, OR=1.39, 95% CI=1.03 to 1.87), but did not survive Bonferroni correction. Rs1043784 in BMP6 showed no associations. Furthermore, rs12997 G/G genotype significantly (p=0.033) increased the risk of POAG (twofolds) independent of age, sex and rs1043784 genotypes in regression analysis. However, clinical variables such as intraocular pressure and cup/disc ratio showed no association with both the polymorphisms. To conclude, the study shows a modest association between rs12997 in the ACVR1 gene, a member of the bone morphogenic protein signaling pathway and POAG. However, the results need further replication in large population-based cohorts and different ethnicities to validate its role as an important genetic biomarker.Multiple sclerosis (MS), a neuroinflammatory disease that affects millions worldwide, is widely thought to be autoimmune in etiology. PF-573228 mw Historically, research into MS pathogenesis has focused on autoreactive CD4 T cells because of their critical role in the animal model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, and the association between MS susceptibility and single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the MHC class II region. However, recent studies have revealed prominent clonal expansions of CD8 T cells within the CNS during MS. In this paper, we review the literature on CD8 T cells in MS, with an emphasis on their potential effector and regulatory properties. We discuss the impact of disease modifying therapies, currently prescribed to reduce MS relapse rates, on CD8 T cell frequency and function. A deeper understanding of the role of CD8 T cells in MS may lead to the development of more effective and selective immunomodulatory drugs for particular subsets of patients.Assessing congestion is challenging but important to patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). However, there are limited data regarding the association between estimated plasma volume status (ePVS) determined using hemoglobin/hematocrit data and outcomes in patients with stable CHF. We prospectively analyzed 231 patients; the median follow-up period was 35.6 months. We calculated ePVS at admission using the Duarte and Strauss formula, derived from hemoglobin and hematocrit ratios and divided patients into three groups. The primary outcome was a composite of all-cause mortality or heart failure rehospitalization. Among 274 patients (61.98 years of age, 2.3% male), the mean ePVS was 3.98±0.90 dL/g. The third ePVS tertile had a higher proportion of primary outcome (71.4%) than the first or second tertile (48.1% and 59.7%, respectively; p=0.013). On multivariable Cox analysis, after adjusting for potential confounders, higher ePVS remained significantly associated with increased rate of primary outcome (adjusted HR 1.