Scott D. Cohen

Psychosocial Aspects of Chronic Disease: ESRD as a Paradigmatic Illness

Psychosocial issues are an understudied yet important concern in the overall health of hemodialysis (HD) patients. Stress is a concomitant of chronic illness and its treatment, and may have meaningful influences on psychological and medical outcomes. This article reviews the influences of psychopathology, social support, family issues, dialysis unit culture, and socioeconomic status on patients treated with center HD. Depressive affect and decreased perception of social support have been linked with mortality in several studies of ESRD patients. Decreased marital satisfaction, disturbances in family dynamics, and lower socioeconomic status (SES) have been associated with poorer health outcomes and can affect patients perception of social support and depressive affect. Chronically ill ESRD patients who undergo treatment with constant interaction and observation by medical staff are potentially an ideal group for evaluation of the effects of stress and psychosocial factors on outcomes in those with chronic disease, as well as an excellent patient population for intervention to reduce morbidity and mortality. These interactions between potentially modifiable psychosocial risk factors for disease and medical aspects of illness form a paradigm for the study of interventions related to adjustment to chronic illness in the ESRD population.

Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Depression in Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease

Depression is common in patients with end-stage renal disease and has been linked to increased mortality. Screening for depression in the general medical population remains controversial; however, given the high prevalence of depression and its significant impact on morbidity and mortality, a strong case for depression screening in patients with end-stage renal disease can be made. Several studies have been performed to validate the more common depression screening measures in patients with chronic kidney disease. The Beck Depression Inventory, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, the Nine-Question Patient Health Questionnaire, and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale are some of the measures that have been used to screen for depression in patients with end-stage renal disease. Data suggest a higher Beck Depression Inventory cutoff score, of >14 to 16, will have increased positive predictive value at diagnosing depression in patients with end-stage renal disease. There are limited data on the treatment of depression in this patient population. Pharmacotherapy, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, can be used if deemed clinically indicated, and no active contraindication exists. There are even fewer data to support the role of cognitive behavioral therapy, social support group interventions, and electroconvulsive therapy for treatment of depression in patients with chronic kidney disease. Larger randomized, controlled clinical trials aimed at the treatment of depression in patients with end-stage renal disease are desperately needed.

Depression in end-stage renal disease hemodialysis patients

Depression has been identified as a complicating comorbid diagnosis in a variety of medical conditions, including end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Despite this, the psychological health of hemodialysis patients is understudied. The purpose of this paper is to review the research and issues involved in the assessment of depression and its sequelae in ESRD. Accurate estimation of the prevalence of depression in the ESRD population has been difficult due to the use of different definitions of depression and varied assessment techniques, the overlap of depressive symptomatology with symptoms of uremia, and the confounding effects of medications. We suggest that depressive affect is a more important construct to study than diagnosis of depression syndromes per se in patients with chronic kidney disease. The Beck Depression Inventory is a reasonable measure of depressive affect in the ESRD population, if a higher than usual cutoff score is used or if its somatic components are omitted. Several pathways link depression and ESRD, and are probably bidirectional. As such, treatment of depressive affect could impact medical as well as psychological outcomes. The need for treatment intervention trials is great. Limited evidence regarding the safety and efficacy of treatment of hemodialysis patients with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors is available, and cognitive behavioral therapy holds promise as an intervention for depression in this complex medical population.

Spirituality, Social Support, and Survival in Hemodialysis Patients

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVESnNo studies have evaluated the relationship among spirituality, social support, and survival in patients with ESRD. This study assessed whether spirituality was an independent predictor of survival in dialysis patients with ESRD after controlling for age, diabetes, albumin, and social support.nnnDESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTSnA total of 166 patients who had ESRD and were treated with hemodialysis completed questionnaires on psychosocial variables, quality of life, and religious and spiritual beliefs. The religious variables were categorized into three scores on a 0 to 20 scale (low to high levels): Spirituality, religious involvement, and religion as coping. Social support was assessed using the Multidimensional Scale for Perceived Social Support. Analyses were also performed including and excluding patients with HIV infection. Religious variables were categorized on the basis of means, medians, and tertiles.nnnRESULTSnIn analyses that used religious variables, only the responses on the spirituality scale split at the mean were associated with survival. The association of other religious variables with survival did not reach significance. Social support correlated with spirituality, religion as coping, and religious involvement measures. Only social support and age were associated with survival when controlling for diabetes, albumin concentration, HIV infection, and spirituality.nnnCONCLUSIONSnThese data suggest that the effects of spirituality may be mediated by social support. Larger, multicenter, prospective studies that use well-validated tools to measure religiosity and spirituality are needed to determine whether there is an independent association of spirituality variables with survival in patients with ESRD.

Association of Incident Gout and Mortality in Dialysis Patients

Previous studies have shown that gout is associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular mortality in the general population, but this has not been well studied in patients with ESRD. In this study, the incidence of gout and its association with mortality was evaluated in 259,209 patients in the United States Renal Data System. Overall, the incidence of gout in the first year of dialysis was 5% and in the first 5 yr was 15.4%. Independent risk factors for gout in adjusted analyses included black race, older age, female gender, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, congestive heart failure, and alcohol use. Factors associated with a lower risk for gout included a history of diabetes, smoking, and peripheral vascular disease. Time-dependent Cox regression analysis suggested that an episode of gout was independently associated with a 1.5-fold increase in mortality risk (adjusted hazard ratio 1.49; 95% confidence interval 1.43 to 1.55). The mechanisms underlying this association require further study.

Beneficial Effect of Rituximab in the Treatment of Recurrent Idiopathic Membranous Nephropathy after Kidney Transplantation

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVESnRecurrence of the original kidney disease after renal transplantation is an increasingly recognized cause of allograft loss. Idiopathic membranous nephropathy (iMN) is a common cause of proteinuria that may progress to ESRD. It is known that iMN may recur after kidney transplantation, causing proteinuria, allograft dysfunction, and allograft loss. Limited data regarding the frequency and treatment of recurrent iMN are available.nnnDESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTSnIn this single-center study, all patients who had iMN and were receiving a first kidney transplant were included. We retrospectively assessed the incidence of biopsy-confirmed recurrent iMN and compared clinical characteristics of patients with and without recurrence. In addition, the effect of treatment with rituximab on proteinuria and renal allograft function in patients with recurrent iMN was examinednnnRESULTSnThe incidence of recurrent iMN was 44%, and recurrences occurred at a median time of 13.6 months after transplantation. Two patterns of recurrence were identified: Early and late. No predictors of recurrence or disease progression could be identified. Treatment with rituximab was effective in four of four patients in stabilizing or reducing proteinuria and stabilizing renal function.nnnCONCLUSIONSnRecurrence of iMN is common even in the era of modern immunosuppression. Rituximab seems to be a valuable treatment option for these patients, although lager studies are needed to confirm our data.

Acute kidney injury in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection.

Purpose of reviewTo present an overview of the epidemiology and etiology of acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Recent findingsHIV-infected patients are at an increased risk of developing AKI. Potential risk factors for the development of AKI in this patient population include increased HIV viral loads, reduced CD4 cell counts, hepatitis C virus coinfection, a history of diabetes, black race, male gender, and baseline chronic kidney and hepatic disease. Observational studies have found an increased morbidity and mortality in HIV-infected patients who develop AKI. There are diverse etiologies of AKI in HIV-infected patients, with increasing reports of highly active antiretroviral therapy-related nephropathy secondary to tenofovir nephrotoxicity. There have also been recent case reports of HIV-infected patients who develop a unique form of acute interstitial nephritis secondary to diffuse infiltrative lymphocytosis syndrome. SummaryThere are a variety of etiologies of AKI in HIV-infected patients. Prompt diagnosis and treatment of AKI is critical to help prevent morbidity and mortality in this patient population.

Circulating and urinary microRNA profile in focal segmental glomerulosclerosis: a pilot study

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are noncoding RNA molecules that play important roles in the pathogenesis of various kidney diseases. We investigated whether patients with minimal change disease (MCD) and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) have distinct circulating and urinary miRNA expression profiles that could lead to potential development of noninvasive biomarkers of the disease.

Cytokine patterns and survival in haemodialysis patients

BACKGROUNDnIncreased pro-inflammatory cytokine levels are associated with decreased survival. We performed factor analyses to determine if pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in haemodialysis (HD) patients load onto one or two discrete factors and assessed if patients with a specific pattern of high pro-inflammatory cytokines have decreased survival compared to patients with a high anti-inflammatory cytokine pattern.nnnMETHODSnWe evaluated 231 HD patients and analyzed them based on the three most common cytokine distribution patterns seen: a high pro-inflammatory group, a high anti-inflammatory group and all others. Survival and Cox regression analyses were performed.nnnRESULTSnFactor analyses of individual cytokines showed that they loaded onto a single factor. Sixty-five patients had a pro-inflammatory pattern of high IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels and low anti-inflammatory parameters, including IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-12, CH50 and T-cell number. The next most frequent cytokine pattern was found in 20 patients with high levels of anti-inflammatory parameters. The patients with high pro-inflammatory cytokines had decreased survival compared to patients without a characteristic cytokine pattern.nnnCONCLUSIONSnFurther research is needed to better define the underlying causes of increased inflammation among end-stage renal disease patients and to apply anti-inflammatory therapies that may mitigate adverse effects on patient outcomes.

Novel B Cell Therapeutic Targets in Transplantation and Immune-Mediated Glomerular Diseases

B cells and antibodies play an important role in the alloresponse to renal grafts as well as in immune-mediated glomerular diseases. In transplantation, greater recognition and improved diagnosis of antibody-mediated rejection have been a catalyst to the introduction of newer drugs and regimens that target B cells, plasma cells, and donor-specific antibodies to improve the outcome associated with antibody-mediated rejection. In immune-mediated renal disease, novel and more selective B cell therapies are gradually modifying the traditional therapeutic approach that consists of steroids and other immunosuppressants. A new era of selective and more effective immunosuppression agents that target the humoral response is finally emerging in transplantation and renal diseases.