Volume 6, Issue 1

Statins essentially are cholesterol-lowering drugs that are extensively prescribed for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Compelling evidence suggests that the beneficial effects of statins may not only be due to its ability to control cholesterol levels but also due to a pleiotropic cholesterol-independent anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, endothelial-protective and plaque-stabilizing activity. Along this line, statins may also exert acute and long-term effects on renal function. We present a narrative literature review that summarizes arguments in favor of or against the preventive and/or therapeutic use of statins in kidney-related diseases or complications. We also highlight the ongoing controversy regarding statin therapy in chronic and end-stage kidney disease.

The prevalence and microbial pattern reported for Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) differ considerably and contemporary situation remains changing over time. We therefore searched both international and domestic databases for relevant references and pooled incidence of CAP and etiological distribution were estimated separately between children and adults groups. The results showed that CAP remained a major public health issue in China, with a relatively higher incidence than that reported in Western countries. Although pathogens were not detected in nearly half of patients, Mycoplasma pneumoniae remained to be the most frequently detected agent across age groups, the detection yield of which was lower than that reported from other countries. Notably, the incidence of influenza virus A in adults was almost four times higher than that in children while the prevalence of respiratory syncytial virus was much less common in adults than that in children. Despite some limitations, the value of this review, approaching to systematically review grey published data, is to sketch out the contemporary epidemiological and etiological situation of CAP in our country, which could be useful to help policymakers and clinicians make informed choices and to inspire future studies and surveillance.

Background and Objectives We retrospectively studied the predisposing factors for nephrotoxicity in the patients with advanced esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma who received combination chemotherapy with docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil (DCF therapy). Methods Between January 2010 and March 2014, 41 patients with Stage IB to III esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma received the DCF therapy (docetaxel 70-75 mg/m 2 , day 1; cisplatin 70-75 mg/m 2 , day 1; 5-fluorouracil 750 mg/m 2 , days 1-5) in our hospital. Renal dysfunction was defined as a creatinine clearance (Ccr) of less than 60 mL/min. Predictors of nephrotoxicity were identified through logistic-regression analysis. Results Nephrotoxicity developed in 20 patients and did not develop in 21 patients. Nephrotoxicity developed during the first course of DCF therapy in 16 patients, the second course in 3 patients, and the third course in 1 patient. The dose of DCF therapy was decreased in 8 patients with nephrotoxicity and 7 patients without nephrotoxicity. Multivariate analysis showed that a low Ccr level immediately before DCF therapy was an independent risk factor for the development of nephrotoxicity (odds ratio, 0.932; 95% confidence interval, 0.876 to 0.992; P = 0.027). On receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the optimal cutoff value of Ccr for the development of nephrotoxicity was 75.8 mL/min. The 2-year overall survival rate was 84.2% in patients with nephrotoxicity and 90.0% in patients without nephrotoxicity ( P = 0.635). Conclusions Low Ccr levels immediately before DCF therapy are a risk factor for the development of nephrotoxicity. Patients should therefore be carefully monitored.

Objectives The aim was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of APRI and FIB-4 in assessing the stage of liver fibrosis in end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients with chronic viral hepatitis and to compare the two tests with standard tru-cut liver biopsy. Material and Methods The study was conducted at Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation Karachi (SIUT) from May 2010 to May 2014. All ESRD patients, being considered as candidates for renal transplantation and in whom liver biopsy was performed were included. Fibrosis stage was assessed on liver biopsy using Ishak scoring system. The serum transaminases and platelet counts were used to calculate APRI and FIB-4 scores. Results Out of 109 patients, hepatitis C and B virus infections were present in 104 (95.4%) and 3(2.8%), respectively, while 2 (1.8%) patients had both infections. The mean Ishak fibrosis score was 1.95 ± 2. Advanced fibrosis was noted in 37 (34%) patients. Univariate analysis showed that advanced liver fibrosis was associated with lower platelets counts ( P =0.001) and higher aspartate aminotransferase (AST) ( P =0.001), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ( P =0.022), APRI score ( P =0.001) and FIB-4 score ( P =0.001). On logistic regression analysis, only APRI score ( P < 0.001) was found to be the independent variable associated with advanced liver fibrosis. APRI score cutoff ≥1 indicating advanced fibrosis showed sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of 91.9%, 90.3%, 82.9%, 95.6%, respectively with area under the curve (AUC) of 0.97. Similarly, a FIB-4 score cutoff ≥1.1 had sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of 70.27%, 66.67%, 52% and 81.36%, respectively with AUC of 0.74. Conclusion APRI is more accurate noninvasive test for assessing advanced liver fibrosis in ESRD patients as compared to FIB-4. It can be used to obviate the need for liver biopsy in this high risk population.

Background and Objectives Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as calculated from the white cell differential blood count is considered a promising marker for the prognosis of patients with various diseases, including sepsis. This study was designed to assess the possible use of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in the prediction of survival outcomes in patients with community acquired pneumonia (CAP). A secondary objective was to compare the prognostic accuracy of NLR with the commonly used severity scores of sepsis SOFA, APACHE II and SAPS II. Methods This was a retrospective study based on data extracted from 26 patients suffering from acute CAP. The study period was from February 01, 2017 until April 30, 2017. All patients with CAP were presented in the Emergency Department (ED) of the University Hospital of Patras, Greece and were treated after admission in the Internal Medicine Department. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was calculated from the white blood cell count (WBC) values measured from a peripheral venous blood specimen drawn on admission. It was then compared with C-reactive protein (CRP) serum levels and the sepsis calculated prognostic scores APACHE II, SAPS II and SOFA. The impact of the above parameters was evaluated in relation to the final outcome. Results The mean period of hospitalization for the enrolled patients was 9.3 days (SD 5.8 days). Twenty-four patients (92.3%) got finally discharged from the hospital and two (7.7%) died during the hospitalization. Mean NLR and serum CRP values on admission were 10.2 ± 8.8 (min 1.4; max 34.7) and 11.4 ± 11 mg/dL (min 0.4; max 42.6) respectively. Based on the correlation analysis, serum CRP was more strongly positively correlated with NLR ( r = 0.543, P = 0.004), than total WBC ( r = 0.454, P = 0.02). None of the biomarkers of inflammation measured or computed in the study (CRP, WBC, NLR) showed any correlation with either the days of hospitalization or the sepsis prognostic scores. Conclusions NLR shows a statistical significant correlation to the commonly used inflammatory markers CRP and total WBC in the small sample size of patients with CAP that we assessed. Although NLR is a simple, cheap and rapidly available measurement in the ED, future, larger prospective studies are warranted to confirm its possible value as a prognostic index in sepsis patients with CAP.

Gastric antral vascular ectasia (GAVE) is a rare but an important cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) and commonly presents as occult bleeding that manifests as iron deficiency anemia (IDA). GAVE is commonly associated with chronic illnesses, most frequently liver cirrhosis and connective tissue diseases. The pathogenesis of GAVE is still obscure, and many hypotheses such as mechanical stress, hormonal factors, and autoimmune factors, have been proposed. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy has a major role in the diagnosis and treatment of GAVE.