The incidence rate of AKI in hospitalized patients is increasing. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the association of AKI with long-term risk of adverse coronary events. Our study investigated hospitalized patients who recovered from de novo dialysis-requiring AKI between 1999 and 2008 using patient data collected from inpatient claims from Taiwan National Health Insurance. We used Cox regression with time-varying covariates to adjust for subsequent CKD and ESRD after discharge. Results were further validated by analysis of a prospectively constructed database. Among 17,106 acute dialysis patients who were discharged, 4869 patients recovered from dialysis-requiring AKI (AKI recovery group) and were matched with 4869 patients without AKI (non-AKI group). The incidence rates of coronary events were 19.8 and 10.3 per 1000 person-years in the AKI recovery and non-AKI groups, respectively. AKI recovery associated with higher risk of coronary events (hazard ratio [HR], 1.67; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.36 to 2.04) and all-cause mortality (HR, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.57 to 1.79) independent of the effects of subsequent progression to CKD and ESRD. The risk levels of de novo coronary events after hospital discharge were similar in patients with diabetes alone and patients with AKI alone (P=0.23). Our results reveal that AKI with recovery associated with higher long-term risks of coronary events and death in this cohort, suggesting that AKI may identify patients with high risk of future coronary events. Enhanced postdischarge follow-up of renal function of patients who have recovered from temporary dialysis may be warranted. The incidence rate of AKI in hospitalized patients is increasing 1 and the number of deaths associated with dialysis-requiring AKI has more than doubled. 2 In hospitalized patients, AKI results in increased in-hospital and posthospitalization resource use. 3 Currently, the incidence rate of dialysis-requiring AKI is higher than the rate of ESRD, and its annual growth rate is as high as 10% in the United States. 4 Along with the advances in critical care medicine and dialysis technologies, the probability of being discharged alive after temporary AKI has been rising among hospitalized patients. 5 It has been noticed

The Ca(2+)-adenosinetriphosphatase pump of the sarcoplasmic or endoplasmic reticulum (SERCA) plays a critical role in Ca2+ signaling and homeostasis in all cells and is encoded by a family of homologous and alternatively spliced genes. To understand more clearly the role the different isoforms play in cell physiology, we have undertaken a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the tissue distribution of transcripts encoding each SERCA isoform. SERCA1 expression is restricted to fast-twitch striated muscles, SERCA2a to cardiac and slow-twitch striated muscles, whereas SERCA2b is ubiquitously expressed. SERCA3 is expressed most abundantly in large and small intestine, thymus, and cerebellum and at lower levels in spleen, lymph node, and lung. In situ hybridization analyses revealed SERCA3 transcripts in cells of the intestinal crypt, the thymic cortex, and Purkinje cells in cerebellum. In addition, SERCA3 was expressed abundantly in isolated rat spleen lymphocytes, in various murine lymphoid cell lines, and in primary cultured microvascular endothelial cells. This analysis demonstrates that SERCA3 is expressed selectively in cells in which Ca2+ signaling plays a critical and sensitive role in regulating physiological processes.

Existing chronic kidney disease (CKD) is among the most potent predictors of postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI). Here we quantified this risk in a multicenter, observational study of 9425 patients who survived to hospital discharge after major surgery. CKD was defined as a baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate <45 ml/min per 1.73 m(2). AKI was stratified according to the maximum simplified RIFLE classification at hospitalization and unresolved AKI defined as a persistent increase in serum creatinine of more than half above the baseline or the need for dialysis at discharge. A Cox proportional hazard model showed that patients with AKI-on-CKD during hospitalization had significantly worse long-term survival over a median follow-up of 4.8 years (hazard ratio, 1.7) [corrected] than patients with AKI but without CKD.The incidence of long-term dialysis was 22.4 and 0.17 per 100 person-years among patients with and without existing CKD, respectively. The adjusted hazard ratio for long-term dialysis in patients with AKI-on-CKD was 19.8 compared to patients who developed AKI without existing CKD. Furthermore, AKI-on-CKD but without kidney recovery at discharge had a worse outcome (hazard ratios of 4.6 and 213, respectively) for mortality and long-term dialysis as compared to patients without CKD or AKI. Thus, in a large cohort of postoperative patients who developed AKI, those with existing CKD were at higher risk for long-term mortality and dialysis after hospital discharge than those without. These outcomes were significantly worse in those with unresolved AKI at discharge.

Objective To assess the effects of different classes of antihypertensive treatments, including monotherapy and combination therapy, on survival and major renal outcomes in patients with diabetes.Design Systematic review and bayesian network meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials.Data sources Electronic literature search of PubMed, Medline, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library for studies published up to December 2011. Study selectionRandomised clinical trials of antihypertensive therapy (angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), α blockers, β blockers, calcium channel blockers, diuretics, and their combinations) in patients with diabetes with a follow-up of at least 12 months, reporting all cause mortality, requirement for dialysis, or doubling of serum creatinine levels. Data extractionBayesian network meta-analysis combined direct and indirect evidence to estimate the relative effects between treatments as well as the probabilities of ranking for treatments based on their protective effects.Results 63 trials with 36 917 participants were identified, including 2400 deaths, 766 patients who required dialysis, and 1099 patients whose serum creatinine level had doubled. Compared with placebo, only ACE inhibitors significantly reduced the doubling of serum creatinine levels (odds ratio 0.58, 95% credible interval 0.32 to 0.90), and only β blockers showed a significant difference in mortality (odds ratio 7.13, 95% credible interval 1.37 to 41.39). Comparisons among all treatments showed no statistical significance in the outcome of dialysis. Although the beneficial effects of ACE inhibitors compared with ARBs did not reach statistical significance, ACE inhibitors consistently showed higher probabilities of being in the superior ranking positions among all three outcomes. Although the protective effect of an ACE inhibitor plus calcium channel blocker compared with placebo was not statistically significant, the treatment ranking identified this combination therapy to have the greatest probability (73.9%) for being the best treatment on reducing mortality, followed by ACE inhibitor plus diuretic (12.5%), ACE inhibitors (2.0%), calcium channel blockers (1.2%), and ARBs (0.4%).Conclusions Our analyses show the renoprotective effects and superiority of using ACE inhibitors in patients with diabetes, and available evidence is not able to show a better effect for ARBs compared with ACE inhibitors. Considering the cost of drugs, our findings support the use of ACE inhibitors as the first line antihypertensive agent in patients with diabetes. Calcium channel blockers might be the preferred treatment in combination with ACE inhibitors if adequate blood pressure control cannot be achieved by ACE inhibitors alone.