Introduction: Management of COVID‐19 in kidney transplant recipients should include treatment of the infection, regulation of immunosuppression, and supportive therapy. However, there is no consensus on this issue yet. This study aimed to our experiences with kidney transplant recipients diagnosed with COVID‐19.Material and Methods: Kidney transplant recipients diagnosed with COVID‐19 from five major transplant centers in Istanbul, Turkey, were included in this retrospective cohort study. Patients were classified as having moderate or severe pneumonia for the analysis. The primary endpoint was all‐cause mortality. The secondary endpoints were acute kidney injury, the average length of hospital stay, admission to intensive care, and mechanical ventilation.Results: Forty patients were reviewed retrospectively over a follow‐up period of 32 days after being diagnosed with COVID‐19. Cough, fever, and dyspnea were the most frequent symptoms in all patients. The frequency of previous induction and rejection therapy was significantly higher in the group with severe pneumonia compared to the moderate pneumonia group. None of the patients using cyclosporine A developed severe pneumonia. Five patients died during follow‐up in the intensive care unit. None of the patients developed graft loss during follow‐up.Discussion: COVID‐19 has been seen to more commonly cause moderate or severe pneumonia in kidney transplant recipients. Immunosuppression should be carefully reduced in these patients. Induction therapy with lymphocyte‐depleting agents should be carefully avoided in kidney transplant recipients during the pandemic period.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this prospective study was to evaluate the clinical, laboratory, and donation-specific outcomes of living kidney donors 6 years after donation.METHODS: We included a total of 93 kidney donors and 54 age- and sex-matched individuals as control group through a type 2 cohort consecutive recruitment. We detected kidney function abnormalities and the presence of hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular events during the 6 years follow-up period.RESULTS: The mean serum creatinine levels were higher (p<0.001), and the estimated glomerular filtration rate levels were lower (p<0.001) in living kidney donors 6 years after donation when compared with controls. The protein/creatinine ratio of the study population was also higher (p=0.014). There was no difference in outcomes between the groups for end-stage kidney disease and cardiovascular mortality. A higher rate of new-onset hypertension (6.4 vs. 32.9%), diabetes mellitus (0.0 vs. 4.3%), chronic kidney disease (0.0 vs. 2.1%), and cardiovascular disease (0.0 vs. 2.1%) was demonstrated among donors 6 years after donation (p<0.001, respectively).CONCLUSION: Our data have demonstrated that the reduction in Glomerular filtration rate induced by kidney donation might cause an increase in adverse renal and cardiovascular events.
Background & Aim: Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is expected to be prevalent among kidney transplant recipients (KTR). In this study, we evaluated the prevalence of MAFLD among KTRs, a data that has not been investigated by any clinical study to date. Matherials and Methods: We included a total of 52 KTRs and 53 age-, sex-, and BMI-matched individuals as control group through a prospective consecutive recruitment. We detected the presence of hepatic steatosis and liver fibrosis using controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) and liver stiffness measurement (LSM) defined by FibroScan. Results: Among the KTRs, 18 (34.6%) had metabolic syndrome. The prevalence of MAFLD among the KTRs and controls was 42.3% and 51.9%, (p=0.375). The CAP and LSM values did not differ significantly between the KTRs and controls (p=0.222 and p=0.119). Among the KTRs, patients with MAFLD had significantly higher age, BMI, waist circumference, LDL, and total cholesterol levels (p
Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the protective effect and antioxidant activity of an herbal product that made from multiple plants in a rat model of kidney dysfunction induced by intraperitoneal cisplatin. Materials and methods: Twenty-four rats were divided into four different groups namely: Group 1 - control healthy animals without any specific medication, Group 2 - Herbal product only 5 mg/kg, Group 3 - cisplatin only and Group 4 - Herbal product 5 mg/kg + cisplatin. Results: Evaluation of our findings demonstrated a significant (p = 0.017) reduction in Catalase activities and a significant increase (p = 0.001) in renal tissue Malondialdehyde levels in cisplatin- treated rats when compared with the control group. Also, Glutathion and Glutathione peroxidase content revealed significant (p = 0.031) reduction in renal tissues of cisplatintreated rats compared with the control group. Pre-treatment of rats with the herbal product ameliorated these cisplatininduced changes of the antioxidant enzymes. No statistically significant changes were demonstrated in Superoxide dismutase activities in the tissue specimens of any group. Conclusions: This potent antioxidant herbal medicine was found to have potential antioxidant activity, which may in turn to be effective in the protection of kidney tissue resulting from cisplatin application. Therefore, much attention should be given to the possible role of natural dietary antioxidants for protecting the kidney.