Efficacy and (pharmaco)kinetics of one single dose of rasburicase in patients with chronic kidney disease.

AIMS: Hyperuricemia is a risk factor associated with cardiovascular and renal disease. Recently, rasburicase, a recombinant urate oxidase, has been developed for the treatment of hyperuricemia in patients with primarily hematological malignancies. We studied the pharmacokinetics and metabolism of rasburicase in the treatment of chronic asymptomatic hyperuricemia in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied 9 CKD patients with hyperuricemia, whose mean serum acid concentration was 10.2 (range 8.3-15.8) mg/dl. No study subject was taking allopurinol (3/9 are allopurinol intolerant). Patients were treated with rasburicase (0.2 mg/kg/day) in single dose by intravenous infusion over a 30-min period. Serum samples were collected after 1, 4, 8, 24, 48 and 72 h, after 1 week, and after 1 month. To evaluate the efficacy of rasburicase, plasma and urinary concentrations of uric acid were determined by the standard method; the plasma activity of rasburicase was determined using a new assay developed by our laboratory (chromatography-mass method, a colorimetric 96-well microtiter plate assay). RESULTS: All the treated patients experienced a rapid reduction in their plasma uric acid concentration. Data showed an undetectable value within 1 h of treatment. The rasburicase effect ended after 50 h, with a slow increase in the plasma level of uric acid. CONCLUSION: A single dose of rasburicase is highly effective and well tolerated in the treatment of hyperuricemia in selected CKD patients.

[Renal transplantation and malignancies: A single-centre experience (25 years)]. / Trapianto renale e neoplasie maligne: esperienza a lungo termine (25 anni) di un singolo centro.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of post-transplant malignancies, in renal transplant recipients, is higher than that expected in age and sex-matched controls from the general population, and there is a markedly increased incidence of certain cancers. METHODS: In 1137 renal transplant recipients (1020 from cadaveric and 117 from living donors, M/F 771/366) performed at the S. Orsola Renal Transplantation Centre since 10/1976 to 9/2001, we studied the post-transplant cancer prevalence, the correlation between cancer prevalence and population characteristics, the risk factors (smoke, cancer history, positive HBsAg and antiHCV infection) and the immunosuppressive therapy. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of malignancies was 3.86% (52 malignancies in 44 patients). The period between transplant and diagnosis of malignant disease was 59 +/- 85 months. Skin cancer was the most common (n=16; 30.7%), followed by lymphoproliferative disorders (n=8; 15.4%), Kaposi s sarcoma (n=6; 11.5%), uterine cancer (n=6; 11.5%), renal carcinoma of native kidney (n=5; 9.6%), cancer of breast/stomach/pancreas and urinary bladder (n=2; 3.8%) and other cancers (n=5; 9.6%). The mean duration of dialysis before transplantation was longer in cancer patients (41+/- 32.1 vs. 33.5 +/- 32.4 months). We found a correlation between types of malignancies and viral infection in NH-lymphoma (EBV positive 4/4) and skin cancer (HZV positive 13/16). We also detected a correlation between Aza and skin cancer (16/22) and CyA and lymphoproliferative disorders (7/8).

Renal transplantation in patients with microscopic polyarteritis and antimyeloperoxidase antibodies: report of three cases.

This paper reports on 3 patients on renal dialysis for crescentic glomerulonephritis associated with microscopic polyarteritis (MPA) and antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies specific for myeloperoxidase (MPO-ANCAs). They successfully underwent renal transplantation from a cadaver donor 6-63 months after the onset of the disease, despite the persistence of antibodies at high titer. A triple immunosuppressive regimen including steroids, cyclosporin and azathioprine was used. One patient underwent transplantectomy for surgical complications 3 months later, while the serum creatinine was 2.0 mg/dl (178 mu mol/l): the remainder have a well-functioning graft after 21 and 38 months, no clinical sign of disease recurrence, and a MPO titer within the normal range. We conclude that MPA patients can undergo renal transplantation even if ANCAs persist at a high titer in the circulation.

Posttraumatic chyluria due to lymphorenal fistula regressed after somatostatin therapy.

A sudden-onset chyluria after trauma was evaluated giving evidence of a lymphatic-urinary fistula in the right kidney. Treatment with somatostatin normalized the urinary pattern and the result was maintained even after the discontinuation of the therapy.