View clinical trials related to Kidney Diseases.
Filter by:The purpose of this study is to find substances in the blood and urine that indicate that a person has kidney damage. It will identify proteins found only in patients with acute kidney failure but not in normal healthy people or in patients with volume depletion. Adults and children who are at least 3 years old who fall into one of the following four categories may be eligible for this study: 1. Are healthy and have normal kidney function 2. Have volume depletion (this condition differs from acute kidney failure in that it is easily treated with fluids) 3. Are at high risk of kidney failure 4. Have acute kidney failure (kidney shutdown) All study participants will have a history and physical examination. Up to four blood samples of 3 tablespoons each will be taken for laboratory analysis. Urine will be collected for analysis and to measure urine output. The participants length of stay in the study varies. People with normal kidney function will be in the study for 1 day and patients with volume depletion will be studied 3 days. The length of hospitalization of patients at high risk of kidney failure or in acute kidney failure will depend on the patient s condition and medication requirements. The results of this study may lead to the development of earlier and more accurate methods for diagnosing acute kidney failure. With earlier detection, treatment could be started earlier, possibly preventing further damage and helping recovery of injury that has already occurred.
Diabetes and end-stage kidney, liver and heart disease are prominent health issues among veteran patients. Successful solid organ transplantation in the absence of chronic immunosuppressive therapy (specific acquired immunological tolerance) is a desirable therapeutic option. This project extends recent observations supporting the use of concommitant donor bone marrow cell infusion as a means of modulating the immune response in kidney transplantation, thereby allowing a substantial decrease or withdrawal of potentially toxic immunosuppressive drugs.
The purpose of this cohort study is to estimate the risk of cardiovascular mortality associated with abnormal calcium metabolism
The Look AHEAD study is a multi-center, randomized clinical trial to examine the long-term effects of a lifestyle intervention designed to achieve and maintain weight loss. The study will investigate the effects of the intervention on heart attacks, stroke and cardiovascular-related death in individuals with type 2 diabetes who are also overweight or obese.
This study is intended to help doctors learn about the relationships between specific genetic makeup (gene markers) and the development of chronic rejection. This study is being done to see if there is a relationship between genetic patterns and the development of Chronic Allograft Nephropathy (CAN). Medical scientists also hope to learn more about how genetic differences between people determine their response to a drug or a disease by storing a small blood sample in a special "bank". This sample may be tested at some point in the future in an attempt to better understand the factors that may influence rejection, transplantation outcomes and transplant success rates.
This protocol seeks to define aspects of intestinal and hepatic uptake and metabolism of several amino acids. The major hypothesis to be tested is that the splanchic bed (intestine and liver) conserves essential amino acids and metabolites while synthesizing and metabolizing nonessential amino acids. The aims of the study include defining the relative roles of enteral and hepatic extraction/metabolism in the disposition of glutamate, alanine, methionine and other amino acids. Emphasis will also be placed on studies of the transamination of alpha-ketoisocaproic acid (KIC) to leucine since this reaction is of potential importance in the design of nutritional regimens for patients with renal disease.
This protocol will test a humanized monoclonal antibody known as Campath-1H for its ability to induce a state of permanent allograft acceptance, or tolerance, when administered in combination with a brief course of the immunosuppressive drug deoxyspergualin (DSG) at the time of human renal allotransplantation. Campath-1H is specific for the common lymphocyte and monocyte antigen CD52. Its administration temporarily depletes mature lymphocytes and some monocytes without altering neutrophils or hematopoietic stem cells. Deoxyspergualin inhibits the NFkB pathway thus preventing monocyte and macrophage activation. Recipients of living or cadaveric donor kidneys will be treated with one dose of Campath-1H prior to transplantation to insure that peripheral depletion is achieved at the time of graft reperfusion. Three subsequent doses of Campath-1H will be administered on the first, third and fifth days after the transplant to deplete passenger donor leukocytes and residual recipient cells that mobilize in response to the allograft. In addition, patients will be treated with DSG for 14 days beginning on the day prior to surgery. This trial expands on pilot studies at the NIH of 15 patients in which Campath was given alone at the time of transplantation. In those studies, excellent peripheral depletion occurred after just one dose of Campath though central depletion required additional dosing. This allowed for greatly reduced immunosuppression to be used to prevent rejection, but to date, all patients have required some immunosuppressive medication. It is hoped that the addition of DSG will eliminate the need for long-term immunosuppression. Patients will be followed closely in the post transplant period. If patients experience rejection, they will be treated with methylprednisolone and have immunosuppression added using sirolimus as the predominant immunosuppressive agent. In the previous phase of this study without DSG, this maneuver has in all cases been successful in returning the allograft to normal function. In addition to evaluating graft function following transplantation, this protocol will also characterize and evaluate the function of the immune system and the composition of the T cell repertoire following the administration of Campath-1H and DSG, and during immune system recovery after transplantation.
Kidney diseases related to the immune system include, nephrotic syndrome, glomerulonephritis, membranous nephropathy, lupus nephritis, and nephritis associated with connective tissue disorders. This study will allow researchers to admit and follow patients suffering from autoimmune diseases of the kidney. It will attempt to provide information about the causes and specific abnormalities associated with autoimmune kidney disease. Patients with kidney disease as a result of their immune system, and patients with diseases of the immune system who may later develop kidney disease, will be potential subjects for this study. Patients will undergo a history and physical examination, and standard laboratory test to more closely understand the causes, signs, symptoms, and responses to medication of these diseases. Based on these evaluations the patients may qualify as candidates for other experimental studies. At any time these patients may be asked to submit blood or urine samples for further research.
Much more about kidney disorders can be learned by determining kidney function. This research proposes to study the kidneys function by several parameters known as glomerular filtration rate (GFR), Renal Plasma Flow (RPF), and Glomerular Capillary Wall Permselectivity. The study will select patients suffering from different types of kidney diseases. These patients will be selected based on the presence of significant amounts of protein in their urine (proteinuria). Standard blood and urine tests are often unable to provide completely accurate information about the kidney. In order for researchers to have a more accurate idea of kidney function, they will use alternative tests. Test materials (para aminohippurate and inulin) will be injected into patients veins that provides information based on their filtration through the kidneys....
This protocol facilitates the development of methods for determining whether transplant recipients have developed immune hyporesponsiveness or tolerance towards their allograft. These methods will involve the study of peripheral blood or biopsy tissue obtained at regular intervals from patients receiving kidney or combined kidney-pancreas allografts at the Warren G. Magnuson Clinical Center. In addition, patients that have previously received a kidney or combined kidney-pancreas allograft will be evaluated using assays requiring peripheral blood mononuclear cells and/or biopsies. Assays developed under this protocol will be used in subsequent protocols to assess the effects of immune modulating treatment regimens and may eventually be used to direct clinical care or guide the withdrawal of immunosuppressive agents. However, patients enrolled in this protocol will not have any change in treatment based solely on the assays developed without being enrolled in an additional study.