Concentrations of retention solutes in uremia vary over a broad range, from nanograms per liter to grams per liter. Low concentrations are found especially for the middle molecules. A substantial number of molecules are protein bound and/or middle molecules, and many of these exert toxicity and are characterized by a high range of toxic over normal concentration (CU/CN ratio). Hence, uremic retention is a complex problem that concerns many more solutes than the current markers of urea and creatinine alone. This list provides a basis for systematic analytic approaches to map the relative importance of the enlisted families of toxins.

In column 2 of Table 7 on page G16, the last disorder under Pulmonary disorders should be Respiratory failure associated with positive-pressure breathing and not as published. Correction 2 On page G20, only SI units should be used in the equation for estimates of the serum sodium concentration corrected for the presence of hyperglycaemia and not as published. The correct equation is as follows: Corrected serum ðNa C Þ Z measured ðNa C Þ C 2:4 ! ðglucose ðmmol=lÞK100 ðmmol=lÞ 100 mmol=l Corrected ðNa C Þ Z measured ðNa C Þ C 2:4 ! ðglucose ðmmol=lÞK5:5 ðmmol=lÞ 5:5 mmol=l

An updated review of the existing knowledge regarding uremic toxins facilitates the design of experimental studies. We performed a literature search and found 621 articles about uremic toxicity published after a 2003 review of this topic. Eighty-seven records provided serum or blood measurements of one or more solutes in patients with CKD. These records described 32 previously known uremic toxins and 56 newly reported solutes. The articles most frequently reported concentrations of b2-microglobulin, indoxyl sulfate, homocysteine, uric acid, and parathyroid hormone. We found most solutes (59%) in only one report. Compared with previous results, more recent articles reported higher uremic concentrations of many solutes, including carboxymethyllysine, cystatin C, and parathyroid hormone. However, five solutes had uremic concentrations less than 10% of the originally reported values. Furthermore, the uremic concentrations of four solutes did not exceed their respective normal concentrations, although they had been previously described as uremic retention solutes. In summary, this review extends the classification of uremic retention solutes and their normal and uremic concentrations, and it should aid the design of experiments to study the biologic effects of these solutes in CKD. The uremic syndrome is characterized by the retention of various solutes that would normally be excreted by the kidneys. The substances that interact negatively with biologic functions are called uremic toxins. In the past years, research on uremic toxicity has been very dynamic and resulted in the identification of dozens of retention solutes, including several uremic toxins. In 2003, the European Uremic Toxin Work Group (http://www.uremic-toxins.org/) proposed a classification of 90 retention solutes providing data on normal and pathologic serum concentrations. 1 In 2007, results were further discussed and expanded with the addition of 14 solutes. 2,3 This collaborative work focused on the highest mean or median concentration of the solutes measured in a uremic population and the highest individual uremic concentration. These data were particularly relevant for researchers on uremic toxicity, and they became a successful tool for allowing use of standardized and biologically relevant concentrations in experimental settings. More recently, scientific and technological progress resulted in the identification of many new uremic retention solutes, particularly thanks to nontargeted approaches such as metabolomic and proteomic profiling. 4,5 To maintain experimental guidelines in keeping with current knowledge, it seemed necessary to propose an update of the encyclopedic review.

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Hyponatraemia, defined as a serum sodium concentration !135 mmol/l, is the most common disorder of body fluid and electrolyte balance encountered in clinical practice. It can lead to a wide spectrum of clinical symptoms, from subtle to severe or even life threatening, and is associated with increased mortality, morbidity and length of hospital stay in patients presenting with a range of conditions. Despite this, the management of patients remains problematic. The prevalence of hyponatraemia in widely different conditions and the fact that hyponatraemia is managed by clinicians with a broad variety of backgrounds have fostered diverse institution-and speciality-based approaches to diagnosis and treatment. To obtain a common and holistic view, the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM), the European Society of Endocrinology (ESE) and the European Renal Association -European Dialysis and Transplant Association (ERA-EDTA), represented by European Renal Best Practice (ERBP), have developed the Clinical Practice Guideline on the diagnostic approach and treatment of hyponatraemia as a joint venture of three societies representing specialists with a natural interest in hyponatraemia. In addition to a rigorous approach to methodology and evaluation, we were keen to ensure that the document focused on patient-important outcomes and included utility for clinicians involved in everyday practice.

Background and objectives: As a major component of uremic syndrome, cardiovascular disease is largely responsible for the high mortality observed in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Preclinical studies have evidenced an association between serum levels of indoxyl sulfate (IS, a protein-bound uremic toxin) and vascular alterations. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between serum IS, vascular calcification, vascular stiffness, and mortality in a cohort of CKD patients.Design, setting, participants, & measurements: One-hundred and thirty-nine patients (mean ؎ SD age: 67 ؎ 12; 60% male) at different stages of CKD (8% at stage 2, 26.5% at stage 3, 26.5% at stage 4, 7% at stage 5, and 32% at stage 5D) were enrolled.Results: Baseline IS levels presented an inverse relationship with renal function and a direct relationship with aortic calcification and pulse wave velocity. During the follow-up period (605 ؎ 217 d), 25 patients died, mostly because of cardiovascular events (n ‫؍‬ 18). In crude survival analyses, the highest IS tertile was a powerful predictor of overall and cardiovascular mortality (P ‫؍‬ 0.001 and 0.012, respectively). The predictive power of IS for death was maintained after adjustment for age, gender, diabetes, albumin, hemoglobin, phosphate, and aortic calcification.Conclusions: The study presented here indicates that IS may have a significant role in the vascular disease and higher mortality observed in CKD patients.

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