This study aimed to disclose the potential causality of low bilirubin in patients with nephrotic syndrome (NS). Correlation analysis was carried out on total bilirubin (TBIL) to serum albumin (ALB), urine protein (Upr), and urinary microalbumin/creatinine (Umalb/cr) for three groups in a case-control study. P < 0.001 was observed for TBIL, ALB, Umalb/cr, and Upr between the NS and chronic nephr...

Background: Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is a common complication after administration of intravenous iodinated contrast media. The present study evaluated the usefulness of urinary beta-N-acetyl D-glucosaminidase (uNAG), alkaline phosphatase (u-ALP) and lactate dehydrogenase (u-LDH) as markers of tubular injury and urinary microalbumin (u-MA) as a marker of glomerular injury for early di...

BACKGROUND Essential data on the quality of diabetes care needed for the development of National Diabetes Programme in Lithuania are lacking. The aim of the study was to assess the quality of diabetes care compared to the local guidelines in Vilnius, Lithuania. MATERIALS AND METHODS Retrospective data collection covering the period from 2012 to 2013 was performed in 5 Vilnius outpatient clini...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness of a managed care approach to health care delivery, group visits, in the management of uninsured or inadequately insured patients with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A total of 120 patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to receive their care in group visits or usual care for 6 months. After 6 months, concordance ...

OBJECTIVES To compare the effects of different routes and timings of administration of dopamine and mannitol used to alleviate the adverse effects of prolonged cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) on renal functions in coronary artery surgery. METHODS Group I (n: 25 patients): Mannitol 1 g/kg was added into the priming solution for CPB. Group II (n: 25 patients): IV dopamine was administered at a dos...

Graphene is receiving increased attention due to its potential widespread applications in future. However, the health effects of graphene have not yet been well studied. Therefore, this study examined the pulmonary effects of graphene oxide using male Sprague-Dawley rats and a single 6-hour nose-only inhalation technique. Following the exposure, the rats were allowed to recover for 1 day, 7 day...

Objective. Acute gout is associated with a decrease in serum uric acid (SUA) that is considered to be in response to acute inflammation but it may be a feature of gout itself. We, therefore, aimed to investigate the effect of the acute systemic inflammatory response (SIR) on SUA concentrations in subjects without gout. Methods. SUA and urinary excretion of uric acid (UA) (expressed as fractiona...

BACKGROUND Urinary proteins are predictive and prognostic markers for diabetes nephropathy. Conventional methods for the quantification of urinary proteins, however, are time-consuming, and most require radioactive labeling. We designed a label-free piezoelectric quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) immunosensor array to simultaneously quantify 4 urinary proteins. METHODS We constructed a 2 x 5 ...

BACKGROUND Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) frequently complicates cardiac catheterization, so the objectives of present study were to investigate the usefulness of cystatin C before catheterization and establish a cut-off level for CIN, and to examine the changes in cystatin C and several other markers in patients with and without CIN. METHODS AND RESULTS Prospective study of consecutive 8...

OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that factors predicting mortality differ between diabetic men and women. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A total of 498 known patients with diabetes residing in a well-defined geographical area and receiving primary health care in 3 primary care community clinics were interviewed and examined between 1988 and 1990. RESULTS By 31 July 1998, after a mean follow-up...