Acute effects of ciclosporin on renal hemodynamics and urinary protein excretion in patients with the nephrotic syndrome.

The possibility that the renal hemodynamic abnormalities associated with ciclosporin (CS) administration are enhanced in nephrotic patients (NP), leading to severe impairment of renal function and/or to modifications in proteinuria, has not hitherto been tested. Ten NP and 8 healthy subjects (NC) were examined before and after oral CS administration (10 mg/kg body weight in NP and 12 mg/kg body weight in NC: a lower dosage was adopted in NP because of edema overestimating the actual body weight) under water diuresis by standard renal clearance methods. Basal blood volume was lower in NP. Blood CS levels were not significantly different in the two groups. Basal glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was similar in NP and NC, while renal plasma flow (RPF) was lower in NP. After CS, both GFR and RPF significantly decreased in the two groups, but the percent decrease in inulin clearance was greater in NP. Filtration fraction increased only in NC. Basal renal vascular resistances were greater in NP, and significantly increased after CS in both groups. Basal fractional sodium excretion (FENa) was lower in NP: after CS FENa decreased only in NC. Neither plasma renin activity, nor plasma aldosterone changed after CS. When urinary protein excretion (UP) was corrected by GFR, no change was observed after CS; by contrast, selectivity of proteinuria (as assessed by the CIgG/CTransferrin ratio) markedly increased. Our data indicate that CS induces a greater fall in the GFR in hypovolemic NP than in healthy subjects, probably because in the former GFR becomes extremely plasma flow dependent.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Cardiovascular impairment, dialysis strategy and tolerance in elderly and young patients on maintenance haemodialysis.

Cardiovascular impairment is considered a major cause of reduced tolerance to haemodialysis in elderly patients and is thought to require a soft dialysis strategy in these patients. To verify these observations we compared dialysis strategy and tolerance of patients over 65 years old to those of patients under 45 years, since atherosclerotic/involutional changes of vasculature should be quite different in these groups. Seventy-seven elderly and 57 young patients (age 72 +/- 5 and 35 +/- 6 years respectively, mean and SD) were selected from a population of 292 patients undergoing regular dialysis treatment exclusively on the basis of the age criterion. Cardiovascular impairment was found to be greater (as expected) in older than in younger patients, as documented by a larger proportion of diabetic patients (19% vs 3%), a greater incidence of cardiovascular manifestations both before the beginning of dialysis (27% vs 10% of patients affected) and after the beginning of dialysis (35% vs 16%), a greater incidence of ECG abnormalities (78% vs 56%), a longer exposure to hypertension (9.2 vs 3.5 years), and a greater utilisation of digitalis (36% vs 5%) and nitrates (19% vs 2%). Dialysis strategy in elderly patients differed from that in young patients only for a moderately lower blood flow rate (243 vs 279, 244 vs 279, ml/min, males and females respectively). Dialysis sessions were shorter in older than in younger males (11.8 vs 12.4 h/week). The incidence of intradialytic hypotension did not differ significantly between the two groups (44% vs 32%), although the elderly showed a greater pre-to-post-dialysis systolic arterial pressure reduction (21 vs 15 mmHg).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)