Oxidative Balance and Inflammation in Hemodialysis Patients: Biomarkers of Cardiovascular Risk?

During chronic kidney disease, the progressive deterioration of renal function induces several biological/clinical dysfunctions, including enhancement of synthesis of inflammation/oxidative stress mediators. Impaired renal function is an independent cardiovascular risk factor; indeed, cardiovascular complications dominate the landscape of both chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease. The aim of this study is to explore the correlation between the global oxidative balance in hemodialysis patients and both inflammatory markers and cardiovascular events. Using photometric tests, this study explored plasmatic oxidative balance in 97 hemodialysis patients compared to a healthy population. In the hemodialysis patients, we showed that oxidative stress values were significantly lower than in controls while effectiveness in the antioxidant barrier was significantly increased in the hemodialysis group. Furthermore, we highlighted a strong correlation between oxidative index and blood levels of C-reactive protein. When patients were divided into two groups based on previous cardiovascular events, we found that subjects with previous cardiovascular events had higher values of both oxidative stress and antioxidant barrier than patients without cardiovascular events. Our results indicated that in hemodialysis patients, the clinical and prognostic significance of oxidative status is very different from general population. As cardiovascular complications represent a strong negative factor for survival of hemodialysis patients, the research of new cardiovascular risk biomarkers in these patients takes on particular importance in order to translate them into clinical practice/primary care.

ApoE epsilon4 allele and disease duration affect verbal learning in mild temporal lobe epilepsy.

PURPOSE: To clarify the possible role of other factors including the ApoE epsilon4 allele for memory decline in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). METHODS: We conducted a neuropsychological and molecular study in 138 consecutive patients (78 female patients; mean age, 50.2 years, SD +/- 17.9; range, 14 to 87 years) with mild nonlesional TLE, who rarely or never had seizures at long-term follow-up. The mean age at seizure onset was 33.0 years (SD, +/-21.7), and the mean duration of epilepsy was 17.1 years (SD, +/-15.7). RESULTS: Thirty-four (25%) of 138 patients had test scores indicating verbal learning deficit (VLD). The presence of an ApoE epsilon4 allele was associated with an increased risk of VLD (OR, 4.18; 95% CI, 1.66-10.55). The effect of the ApoE genotype was independent of both the age at epilepsy onset and disease duration as well as of a low educational level, which were separately associated with VLD (p values = 0.045, 0.001, and 0.001, respectively). A significant linear trend (p = 0.005) was seen in the relation between disease duration and cognitive impairment, with the highest risk being in patients with an epilepsy duration > or =25.5 years (OR, 7.06; 95% CI, 1.67-29.85), especially if they carried the epsilon4 allele (OR, 32.29; 95% CI, 5.23-195.72). CONCLUSIONS: These results provide evidence for an alteration in cognitive performance as a function of the presence of the ApoE epsilon4 allele and point to the critical role of disease duration itself for cognitive impairment in TLE.