Treatment for renal anemia and outcomes in non-dialysis patients with chronic kidney disease: the current status of regional medicine according to the Kyoto Fushimi Renal Anemia (KFRA) study

Renal anemia: from relative insufficiency of EPO to imbalance of erythropoiesis and eryptosis

Chronic kidney disease has emerged as a major health issue both in China and worldwide. Renal anemia frequently occurs in patients with chronic kidney disease, and its severity and incidence rate increase as the disease progresses. Over the last 30 years, the administration of exogenous EPO and EPO stimulants has been employed to alleviate renal anemia, suggesting that a relative deficiency in EPO may be a primary cause. However, this approach has overshadowed other contributing factors, particularly eryptosis, which results from the reduced lifespan of red blood cells. Numerous studies reveal that there are nephrogenic and extrarenal EPO secretion indicating that an absolute deficiency of EPO is not always present in patients. Therefore, this paper speculates that renal anemia may arise when EPO-driven erythropoiesis fails to adequately compensate for aggravating eryptosis. Other factors including iron metabolism disorder, uremic toxin accumulation, inflammatory state, oxidative stress, and secondary hyperparathyroidism affect EPO reactivity bone marrow hematopoiesis and eryptosis, leading to an imbalance between red blood cell production and destruction, and cause anemia ultimately. More further studies on the pathogenesis and treatment of renal anemia would be expected to provide evidence to support our opinion.

Retrospective study on the effect of Niaoduqing particles on outcome of non-diabetic patients with stage IV chronic kidney disease

This study was to investigate the improvement value of Niaoduqing particles in the outcome of non-diabetic patients with stage IV chronic kidney disease (CKD). The non-diabetic patients with stage IV CKD who were to receive Niaoduqing particles were set as the study group (252 cases), and the patients with the same disease who only received Western medicine in the public database were set as the control group (220 cases). The follow-up visits were 3 months/time for 1 year. Deaths due to various causes, doubling of creatinine levels, and end-stage renal disease were used as hard end points to stop follow-up. The clinical indexes of the 2 groups were observed and compared. The results showed that the rate of compound outcome was significantly lower in the study group (28.17%) than in the control group (36.82%), the glomerular filtration rate was significantly higher than that in the control group, and the levels of uric acid and urea were significantly lower than that in the control group (P < .05). Niaoduqing particles can reduce creatinine and urea nitrogen, stabilize renal function, delay dialysis time, and improve the incidence of compound outcome in patients with non-diabetic stage IV CKD, which is worthy of clinical promotion.

Characterization of baseline clinical factors associated with incident worsening kidney function in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation: the Hokuriku-Plus AF Registry

Evidence suggests that atrial fibrillation (AF) could increase the risk of worsening kidney function (WKF) which is linked to an increased risk of stroke, bleeding, and death in AF patients. However, limited data exist regarding the factors that could lead to WKF in these patients. Therefore, we sought to identify the potential factors associated with the development of WKF in patients with non-valvular AF (NVAF). We analyzed prospectively recruited 1122 NVAF patients [men 71.9%, median age 73.0 years (interquartile range: 66.0-79.0)] with a baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≥ 15 mL/min/1.73 m² from the Hokuriku-Plus AF Registry. The primary outcome was incident WKF, defined as the %eGFR change from the baseline ≥ 30% during the follow-up period. We evaluated the association between baseline variables and incident WKF using univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard models. We also evaluated the non-linear association between the identified factors and incident WKF. During a median follow-up period of 3.0 years (interquartile range: 2.7-3.3), incident WKF was observed in 108 patients (32.6 per 1000 person-years). Compared to the patients without incident WKF, the patients with incident WKF were older and had a higher prevalence of heart failure (HF), diabetes mellitus (DM), and vascular disease at baseline. Those who experienced incident WKF also had higher diastolic blood pressure, lower hemoglobin, lower eGFR, higher B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and used warfarin more frequently. Upon multivariate analysis, age ≥ 75 years, HF, DM, and anemia were independently associated with incident WKF. Additionally, age and hemoglobin were linearly associated with the risk of incident WKF, whereas a J- or U-shaped association was observed for HbA1c and BNP. Age ≥ 75 years, HF, DM, and anemia were associated with the development of WKF in Japanese patients with NVAF. In patients with these risk factors, a careful monitoring of the kidney function and appropriate interventions may be important when possible.

Application Value and Relevance Analysis of the Risk Evaluation System for Arteriovenous Fistula Puncture in Thrombosis after Puncture

Objective

To analyze the application value and relevance of risk evaluation system for arteriovenous fistula (AVF) puncture in thrombosis after puncture.

Methods

The clinical data of 180 patients treated with hemodialysis in the hemodialysis center of our hospital from November 2017 to November 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. After puncture, all patients received the digital subtraction angiography (DSA) examination, and based on whether they had AVF thrombosis, they were divided into the nonthrombosis group (n = 102) and thrombosis group (n = 78), and then, according to the parity of their admission numbers, the patients in the thrombosis group were subdivided into the study group (n = 39) and the reference group (n = 39), so as to analyze the risk factors of thrombosis after AVF puncture and the application value of the risk evaluation system for AVF puncture in preventing and treating thrombosis.

Results

Compared with the reference group after intervention, the study group had significantly higher mean internal fistula blood flow volume (P < 0.001) and significantly lower total incidence rate of vascular complications in fistulas (P < 0.05); according to the multifactor binary logistic regression analysis, it was found that diabetes, systolic blood pressure reduction, hemoglobin, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), ultrafiltration rate, and elevation of blood phosphorus and platelet levels were the risk factors of thrombosis after AVF puncture in hemodialysis patients.

Conclusion

When risk factors of thrombosis are found in patients treated with hemodialysis, timely detection and intervention shall be applied in the early stage. Adopting the AVF puncture risk evaluation system has an extremely high application value in the clinic and is of important meaning in prolonging the service life of fistulas.