Circulating levels of soluble adhesion molecules in patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis.

BACKGROUND: During inflammation, activated vascular endothelial cells and other cell types express various adhesion molecules, which facilitate the binding of circulating leukocytes and their extravasation in surrounding tissue (i.e. renal tissue). The serum concentration of circulating soluble adhesion molecules is supposed to reflect the degree of this activation. OBJECTIVE: In the first part of the study, we determined if the serum levels of the soluble intercellular adhesion molecule (sICAM)-1 and the soluble endothelial cell-leukocyte adhesion molecule (sELAM)-1, in patients affected by microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), associated with myeloperoxidase (MPO)-anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA), were related to the active and the inactive vasculitis phase. In the second part of the study, we examined the changes in circulating sICAM-1 and sELAM-1 levels and the clinical outcome of renal function in these patients. METHODS: We examined 20 MPO-ANCA-positive MPA patients in an acute phase and in a remission phase, after 6 months of treatment, and 50 subjects as controls, 30 with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) in stable chronic renal failure (CRF) and 20 healthy volunteers (HS) with normal renal function. RESULTS: Regarding serum creatinine (Cr) concentration, no significant differences were found comparing active and inactive phases in the MPA group and the CRF group. Mean serum adhesion molecule levels in the MPA group were higher in the active phase compared to the inactive phase and to the CRF and HS groups. In addition, considering the outcome of serum Cr concentrations in the MPA group, the serum adhesion molecule levels were higher and decreased more slowly in patients with final high serum Cr concentrations than in patients with final normal serum Cr concentrations. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that in MPO-ANCA-positive MPA patients, higher sICAM-1 and sELAM-1 levels during the active phase and their slower decline during the treatment period, could be a prognostic risk factor for CRF development.

Prevalence of biliary lithiasis in a Sicilian population of chronic renal failure patients.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of biliary lithiasis (BL) and associated risk factors in a population of undialysed patients with chronic renal failure (CRF), and to compare these with findings we had obtained previously in chronic haemodialysis (HD) patients and in subjects from the general population located in the same geographic region. METHODS: A total of 118 CRF patients on conservative treatment were included in the study. In all subjects, we measured several clinical and humoral parameters potentially correlated with BL. Liver and biliary tract ultrasonography was performed with a 3.5 MHz linear probe after at least 12 h of fasting. RESULTS: The prevalence of BL in CRF patients was 22%, which was higher than in the general population (chi(2) = 9.4, P < 0.002) but lower than in HD patients (chi(2) = 25.9, P < 0.0001). Age was similar in the three groups. Body mass index (BMI) was significantly higher in the CRF group than in both HD patients (P < 0.0001) and the general population (P < 0.0001). When the CRF group was divided into subjects with or without BL, the only difference was lower serum calcium levels in the subgroup with BL (P < 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of BL in a Sicilian population of CRF patients was higher than in the general population, but lower than in patients with CRF on chronic HD. Apart from BMI, none of the risk factors traditionally associated with BL in the general population were related to BL in the CRF patients. These data suggest that other factors inherent to kidney pathology contribute to the high prevalence of BL in CRF patients.