MO317DETERMINANTS OF LENGHT OF HOSPITAL STAY (LOS) IN NEPHROTIC SYNDROME PATIENTS

Background and Aims Generalized edema, non responsive to oral diuretics, is one of the main causes of hospital admission for nephrotic syndrome patients. Although hospital length of stay (LOS) may vary widely, in 2017 the average LOS in acute-care hospitals was lower than 8 days in OECD countries. The aim of the present study was to determine the factors commonly associated with a longer LOS in patients admitted for edema due to nephrotic syndrome in the Nephrology Unit of ICS Maugeri, Pavia, Italy Method In this retrospective study we reviewed the medical records of all patients admitted for nephrotic syndrome between 2012-2020 in the Nephrology Unit of ICS Maugeri. Inclusion criteria were the following: age between 18-85 years of age; severe edema non responsive to oral, low dose diuretics; patients with heart failure, serum creatinine > 3.5 g/dl or on dialysis treatment were excluded from the study. Patients were divided into two groups according to the length of stay: ≤ 7 days or ≥ 8 days. Age, gender, serum protein concentration, creatinine, and hemoglobin; serum cholesterol and tryglicerides, urinary protein excretion rate; types of glomerular disease, weight loss were recorded. Student T tests and one-way Anova were performed to evaluate the differences between the means. Results 60 patients (42 male, 18 female) with a total number of hospital accesses of 93 were enrolled in the study. Mean age was 66.8 ± 13.07 years. Average LOS was 9.02 ± 7.4 days. Protein excretion rate was 6.7 ± 3.6 g/24 hours at the admission and was not statistically changed at discharge. Mean total serum protein and creatinine concentration at the admission were 4.7 ± 0.8 g/dl and 1.8 ± 1.1 mg/dl respectively. Patients with LOS < 7 days were younger (64 ± 11.9 vs 69 ± 13.6 years, p <0.05), had a lower serum creatinine (1.55 ± 0.92 vs 2.08 ± 1.2 mg/dl, p>0.001) and a significantly higher total serum protein concentration (5.02 ± 0.77 vs 4.65 ± 0.76 g/dl, p< 0.001) and haemoglobin (12.6 ± 1.8 vs 11.4 ± 1.8 g/dl, p< 0.05) compared to patients with longer LOS. Proteinuria was not significantly different between the two groups (6.27 ± 3.36 vs 7.1 ± 3.9 g/24 hours, p= NS). While serum cholesterol and tryglicerides were higher in the group of patients with longer LOS, weight loss was similar in the two groups at discharge. Although the difference was not significant, the group with longer hospitalization had a greater number of patients with a diagnosis of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) Conclusion Our results demonstrate that age, total serum protein concentration, serum creatinine, higher lipids and probably the diagnosis of FSGS may affect the hospital length of stay of patients with nephrotic syndrome admitted for severe edema. A more aggressive diuretic treatment may be needed in elderly nephrotic syndrome patients with lower GFR and total serum protein concentration.

Исследование сыворотки крови у крыс с трансплантированной холангиокарциномой с использованием спектроскопии комбинационного рассеяния света

The blood serum samples from healthy rats and rats with inoculated tumors 14 and 28 days after transplantation of cholangiocarcinoma cells were studied using Raman spectroscopy. It was shown that the amide I band intensity differs in the spectra depending on tumor stage and it correlates with the serum protein concentration. The blood glucose concentration increases in some rats, leading to protein glycation and the amide 1 band change. The band at 1670 cm-1 is most pronounced in the spectra on 28 day of the experiment and may be associated with an increase of β-structural elements in protein conformation. The principal component analysis allows evaluating the differences in Raman spectra of healthy rats and rats on day 28 after tumor transplantation.

Increased Soluble CMG2 Serum Protein Concentration is Associated with the Progression of Prostate Carcinoma

Prostate carcinoma (PCa) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death in males, but biomarkers for the prognosis are rare. Capillary morphogenesis gene 2 (CMG2) is a modulator of extracellular matrix remodeling during angiogenesis. Four isoforms of CMG2 have been described so far, one secreted in the serum as soluble CMG2 (sCMG2). The aim of this study was to evaluate the sCMG2 serum concentrations in 179 PCa patients and 163 age-matched control subjects by ELISA and correlate it to clinical and demographic parameters. We observed that sCMG2 concentration is increased in the serum of PCa patients with metastases, while no significant differences in the concentrations were detected between the control subjects and patients with localized PCa. Furthermore, elevated sCMG2 concentrations were significantly associated with the highest T stage. Increased sCMG2 serum concentrations tended to be associated with a worsened overall and disease-specific survival of the PCa patients. In conclusion, sCMG2 may be an interesting additive biomarker for the prediction of the progression of PCa and the patients’ outcome.

Comparative study on serum protein concentration and electrophoretic pattern in clinically healthy gazelles

Screening of electrophoretic pattern of serum protein is crucial for the initial evaluation of numerous clinical conditions. The present study aimed to investigate and compare the normal serum protein electrophoretic pattern in three gazelle species which included sand gazelle (Gazella gazella), mountain gazelle (Gazella subgutterosa) and Erlanger’s gazelle (Gazella erlangeri). Significant (P £ 0.05) interspecies differences were noticed in A/G ratio, and in á-1, â and globulins fractions using agarose gel electrophoresis. Significant (P £ 0.05) differences between males of the three species were encountered in á-1, á- 2 and â globulins fractions, while significant differences in A/G ratio, á-1, á-2 and â globulins fractions were observed between females of the three species. Significance (P £ 0.05) intersex differences were observed for albumin in sand gazelle, and for á-2 and â globulins fractions in mountain gazelle. The results obtained from the current study could provide a baseline references and could be used for diagnostic purposes.

Some immunological studies on a new vaccine derived frombacteriophage lysate of Pasteurella multocida in mice

The study was undertaken to evaluate the humoral immune response in mice induced by a novel phage lysate vaccine against Hemorrhagic Septicemia developed from Pasteurella multocida grown under iron-restricted conditions and lysed by a bacteriophage. Two groups of mice were immunized with lysate vaccine (LV) and conventional killed HS vaccine (CV) and blood was collected at various days post – immunization (DPI). The serum protein concentration in lysate vaccinated mice (4.675±0.223) was significantly higher (p less than 0.05) than the conventional vaccinated mice (4.100±0.282) at 150 DPI. The serum globulin levels at 90 DPI and 180 DPI in LV mice (1.330±0.071 and 0.650±0.100) were significantly (p less than 0.01) higher than the CV mice (0.850±0.084 and 0.366±0.098). The serum IgG levels at 150 DPI and 180 DPI in LV (0.564±0.188 and 0.485±0121) mice were significantly higher (p less than 0.01) than the CV mice (0.178±0.039 and 0.121±0.026). Although our results in mice are promising, further studies involving bovines are needed.