Hsien-Yi Wang

End-stage renal disease after hypertensive disorders in pregnancy

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine the long-term postpartum risk of end-stage renal disease in women with hypertensive disorders in pregnancy. Although most women with hypertensive disorders in pregnancy recover after delivery, some may experience acute renal failure. STUDY DESIGN We searched Taiwans National Health Insurance Research Database to identify women with hypertensive disorders in pregnancies and deliveries between 1998 and 2002. All cases were followed for a maximum of 11 years (median, 9 years; interquartile range, 7.79-10.02 years) to estimate the incidence of end-stage renal disease; Cox regression analysis that was adjusted for potential confounding was used to determine the relative risk. RESULTS Of the 13,633 women with hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, 46 experienced end-stage renal disease. Women with hypertensive disorders in pregnancy had a risk of end-stage renal disease that was 10.64 times greater than did women without them (95% confidence interval [CI], 7.53-15.05). The risk was highest in women with a history of preeclampsia superimposed on chronic hypertension (hazard ratio, 44.72; 95% CI, 22.59-88.51). Women with gestational hypertension had a higher risk of end-stage renal disease than did women without hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (hazard ratio, 5.82; 95% CI, 2.15-15.77). CONCLUSION Women with hypertensive disorders in pregnancy have a higher risk of postpartum end-stage renal disease, regardless of which type of hypertensive disorder they have. Women with a history of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy are encouraged to have regular postpartum checkups, especially of renal function.

Differential proteomic characterization between normal peritoneal fluid and diabetic peritoneal dialysate

BACKGROUND Since the mechanism of comorbidity and mortality in peritoneal dialysis is unclear, a comparison of peritoneal dialysate and normal peritoneal fluid may provide clues to the biological and pathological processes involved in peritoneal damage. METHODS Peritoneal dialysate and control samples were collected from five diabetes mellitus (DM) patients and two patients receiving laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Proteins were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2D-GE). After image analysis, altered gel spots between these two sample groups were subjected to tryptic digestion and mass spectrometry analysis. The results were searched against the NCBI database. RESULTS A total of 26 protein spots were considered altered in 2D-GE between the two sample groups. After western blotting confirmation, vitamin D-binding protein, haptoglobin and alpha-2-microglobulin were at higher levels in the DM samples, while complement C4-A and IGK@ protein were at lower levels compared to the control samples. CONCLUSION The loss of vitamin D-binding protein, haptoglobin and alpha-2-microglobulin may be due to a change in the permeability of the peritoneal membrane to middle-sized proteins or leakage from peritoneal inflammation. Lower levels of complement C4-A in dialysate may shed light on the beginning of peritoneal membrane scleroses.

Reverse Epidemiology of Hypertension-Mortality Associations in Hemodialysis Patients: A Long-Term Population-Based Study

BACKGROUND Although hypertension (HTN) is a predictor of mortality, recent data have questioned the link between baseline HTN and mortality in incident hemodialysis (HD) patients. We used Taiwans National Health Insurance claim data (NHRI-NHIRD-99182) to investigate the association. METHODS In 1999, this longitudinal cohort study enrolled 5752 new HD patients. Follow-up began from the initiation of HD until death, the end of HD, or the end of 2008. A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was done. Cox proportional hazard analysis was used to identify the risk factors for mortality. RESULTS The prevalence of baseline HTN was 75.47%. Patients with HTN had a higher prevalence of diabetic mellitus (DM) and cardiovascular diseases. The 1-, 5-, and 9-year cumulative survival rates were 95.5, 63.7 and 41.8% in patients with HTN, and 95.5, 71.0, and 52.0% in those without HTN (log-rank test: P <0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that patients with baseline HTN may have a higher survival rate (hazard ratio (HR) 0.901, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.819-0.992). After stratification by age and DM, only elderly (≥65) patients without DM had a significantly higher survival rate (HR 0.769, 95% CI: 0.637-0.927). HTN predicts lower mortality with increasing age in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) or coronary artery disease (CAD). CONCLUSIONS There is a reverse (counterintuitive) association between baseline HTN and mortality in elderly HD patients without DM and a clear tendency for a reverse association with increasing age in patients with CHF or CAD. Further study of the association between HTN and mortality in older HD patients may be warranted.

Comparison of low-dose deferoxamine versus standard-dose deferoxamine for treatment of aluminium overload among haemodialysis patients

BACKGROUND Patients on maintenance haemodialysis are at high risk of aluminium overload. While deferoxamine (DFO) has potential adverse effects, lower DFO dosages may afford good efficacy with fewer side effects. We evaluated the therapeutic response of low-dose (2.5 mg/kg/week) DFO among haemodialysis patients with aluminium overload. METHODS We recruited the participants via basal predialysis serum aluminium (Al) levels of >or=20 microg/L with clinical suspicion of aluminium toxicity or hyperparathyroidism indicating parathyroidectomy and positive DFO tests. Patients were randomly divided into standard-dose (5 mg/kg/week) and low-dose (2.5 mg/kg/week) groups. We compared the differences of mineral biochemical and haematological parameters before and after DFO treatment. Successful treatment was defined as a serum aluminium increase of <50 microg/L by DFO test. Adverse events during DFO therapy between the groups were also compared. RESULTS In total, 42 haemodialysis patients completed treatment (standard-dose group, n = 21; low-dose group, n = 21). The demographic characteristics of the groups did not differ. Serum corrected calcium and ferritin decreased in both groups, while serum total alkaline phosphatase increased in both groups. Serum phosphorus increased in low-dose group (P = 0.029), while plasma intact parathyroid hormone increased in standard-dose group (P = 0.004). The successful treatment response rates did not differ between the two groups (standard-dose: 12/21, 57% vs low-dose: 13/21, 62%; P = 0.75). CONCLUSIONS Low-dose DFO may offer similar therapeutic effects as standard-dose DFO therapy.

Long-term survival and predictors for mortality among dialysis patients in an endemic area for chronic liver disease: a national cohort study in Taiwan

BackgroundPatients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are at a higher risk for chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis (LC) and mortality than the general population. Optimal modalities of renal replacement therapy for ESRD patients with concomitant end-stage liver disease remain controversial. We investigated the long-term outcome for chronic liver disease among dialysis patients in an endemic area.MethodsUsing Taiwan’s National Health Insurance claim data (NHRI-NHIRD-99182), We performed a longitudinal cohort study to investigate the impact of comorbidities on mortality in dialysis patients. We followed up 11293 incident hemodialysis (HD) and 761 peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients from the start of dialysis until the date of death or the end of database period (December 31, 2008). A Cox proportional hazards model was used to identify the risk factors for all-cause mortality.ResultsPatients receiving PD tended to be younger and less likely to have comorbidities than those receiving HD. At the beginning of dialysis, a high prevalence rate (6.16 %) of LC was found. Other than well-known risk factors, LC (hazard ratio [HR] 1.473, 95 % CI: 1.329-1.634) and dementia (HR 1.376, 95 % CI: 1.083-1.750) were also independent predictors of mortality. Hypertension and mortality were inversely associated. Dialysis modality and three individual comorbidities (diabetes mellitus, chronic lung disease, and dementia) interacted significantly on mortality risk.ConclusionsLC is an important predictor of mortality; however, the effect on mortality was not different between HD and PD patients.

Characterization of ADAM28 as a biomarker of bladder transitional cell carcinomas by urinary proteome analysis

Human urine contains a large number of proteins and peptides (the urinary proteome). Global analysis of the human urinary proteome is important for understanding urinary tract diseases. Bladder cancer is the most common urological cancer with higher incidence rates in endemic areas of Blackfoot disease (BFD) in southern Taiwan. The aim of this study was to use the proteomic approach to establish urinary protein biomarkers of bladder cancer. ADAM28, identified by proteomic approaches and confirmed by Western blotting, showed significant differences compared with normal individuals, so it may be a biomarker of bladder cancer.

Risk of Acute Kidney Injury after Exposure to Gadolinium-Based Contrast in Patients with Renal Impairment

Objectives: Gadolinium-based contrast media (Gd-CM) are reported to induce acute kidney injury (AKI) in a high-risk population group at the usual dose for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) examinations. We assessed gadolinium-induced nephropathy in patients with renal impairment who underwent MRI or MRA examinations, and evaluated the risk factors. Materials and methods: In this retrospective study, 238 patients with baseline renal impairment, who received MRI or MRA examinations with Gd-CM, were recruited. After all other AKI causes—liver decompensation, severe heart failure, all kinds of shock, and severe sepsis—and patients on dialysis were excluded, 158 patients were enrolled. AKI was defined as a decrease in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) >10% of baseline data within 3 days after administration of Gd-CM. Regression analysis was used to find independent risk factors for gadolinium-induced AKI (Gd-AKI). Results: Twenty-six of the 158 patients (16.5%) developed Gd-AKI. There were no significant differences in gender, age, or baseline GFR between those who did and who did not develop AKI. Comorbid coronary artery disease, liver cirrhosis, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension were not significantly associated with the development of Gd-AKI. However, sepsis was an independent risk factor for Gd-AKI after multivariate regression analysis (adjusted odds ratio: 4.417; 95% confidence interval: 1.671–11.676, p = 0.03). Conclusions: It is potential AKI after administration of Gd-CM under sepsis condition at the dose for MRI and MRA examinations in patients with renal impairment. It is important to identify high-risk patients and closely monitor renal function after administration of Gd-CM.

Proteomic Profiling for Peritoneal Dialysate: Differential Protein Expression in Diabetes Mellitus

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is an increasingly accepted modality of renal replacement therapy. It provides the advantages of having a flexible lifestyle, stable hemodynamics, and better preservation of residual renal function. To enhance our understanding of the peritoneal dialysate of diabetes mellitus (DM), peritoneal dialysate proteins were identified by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) combined with reverse-phase nano-ultra performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (RP-nano-UPLC-ESI-MS/MS) followed by peptide fragmentation patterning. To validate the differential proteins, ELISA and Western blotting analyses were applied to detect candidate proteins that may be related to DM. We performed 2DE on the peritoneal dialysate samples, with detection of more than 300 spots. From this, 13 spots were excised, in-gel digested, and identified by RP-nano-UPLC-ESI-MS/MS. Ten of these showed significant differential expression between the DM and chronic glomerulonephritis (CGN) peritoneal dialysate samples. In this study, we conducted a comparative proteomic study on these two groups of dialysate that may provide evidence for understanding the different peritoneal protein changes. These proteins may not be new biomarkers; however, they may indicate a situation for possible drug treatment and can be the predictors of peritonitis for a validation study in the future.

Intermediate bioelectrolyte changes after phospho-soda or polyethylene glycol precolonoscopic laxatives in a population undergoing health examinations

BACKGROUND Colonoscopy is a common procedure for diagnosing and screening colon cancer and other bowel-related diseases. Many studies have pointed out that using phospho-soda as a bowel preparation can cause obvious electrolyte abnormalities or acute kidney injury. Nonetheless, there are few studies related to its prevalence and risk factors in the population undergoing health examinations. Our aim was to compare the biochemical and electrolyte changes after using two commonly used bowel preparation regimens in this population. METHODS In this retrospective study, we collected data about participants who, before a screening colonoscopy, used oral phospho-soda laxatives in 2006, and those who used polyethylene glycol-based laxatives in 2005. Several serum biochemical and electrolyte profiles were compared between the two groups. Additional risk factors of hyperphosphatemia, a well-known side effect of phospho-soda, were also derived. RESULTS We enrolled a total of 2270 participants (1321 in 2005; 1449 in 2006). The basic demographic data of the two groups were not statistically different. Nonetheless, between the two groups, some serum biochemical and electrolytic data differed significantly: in those using oral phospho-soda laxatives, we found a higher prevalence of hyperuricemia, hypocalcemia, hypokalemia, hypernatremia and hyperphosphatemia. Further analyses showed that using oral phospho-soda laxatives was a risk factor for hyperphosphatemia; conversely, being male was a protective factor. CONCLUSION Oral phospho-soda laxatives indeed influence the biochemical and electrolyte profiles of persons undergoing health examinations. One should be careful when interpreting bioelectrolytic data while using phospho-soda as a bowel preparation.

Wound dehiscence as a cataract surgery-associated postoperative complication in patients previously treated with alpha-1 blocker tamsulosin--a population-based study in Taiwan.

PURPOSE To compare the cataract surgery-related complications between patients with and without tamsulosin treatment. DESIGN A nationwide retrospective case-control study. METHODS Patients who had undergone cataract surgery were identified using the International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification from a nationally representative dataset of 1 million people selected from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database in 2000. Patients preoperatively treated with α1-blockers before cataract surgery were the treated group, and age-, sex-, and year of surgery-matched patients not preoperatively treated with α1-blockers were the control group. Patients treated with tamsulosin underwent subgroup analysis. A conditional logistic regression model was used to estimate surgery-related complications and interesting variables. The main outcome measures are cataract surgery-related complications. RESULTS A total of 4474 treated patients and 4474 controls were analyzed. The percentage of cataract surgery-related complications was 8.61% in the treated group and 8% in the control group (not significantly different). However, wound dehiscence was 3.81 times higher (95% confidence interval: 1.24-11.67, P = .0194) in the tamsulosin-treated group. CONCLUSIONS Patients treated with tamsulosin have a higher risk of wound dehiscence after cataract surgery. Carefully taking a history of tamsulosin use before cataract surgery is advised so that some strategies can be used to prevent complications and additional costs.