The present study demonstrates that one of a serine-threonine protein kinase, SGK1 levels in urine is associated with severe pathologic lesions in renal tissues, and subsequent renal insufficiency in IgAN.

The authors evaluated the performance of soluble CD25 as a new biomarker for septic AKI. They collected blood and urine samples from critically ill patients treated in ICU. Among several different biomarkers including NGAL, the authors found sCD25 and IL-10 in addition to NGAL were significantly increased in septic AKI.

This cross-sectional study of 1724 community-based participants in Southern China assesses the presence of metabolic syndrome and shows its association with CKD. The identification of predictors for CKD can lead to strategies such as excercise and weight reduction to reduce adverse outcomes and may help to delay the development and progression of CKD.

An interesting paper demonstrates supine/standing urinalysis combined with Doppler sonography can be helpful for differential diagnosis of left renal vein entrapment syndrome from glomerulopathy.

Cinacalcet has been shown to be effective in managing the biochemical abnormalities in secondary hyperparathyroidism, but its effects on long-term cardiovascular outcomes and vascular calcification remains non-definitive. The study demonstrated that the use of cinacalcet in a small group of PD patients did not improve vascular arterial stiffness, using carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity as a surrogate marker.

The manuscript provides evidence for the role of online learning, as tested in undergraduate students (mostly nursing students) in Australia, to increase awareness of home dialysis.

The ability of urinary biomarkers, NGAL, KIM-1, IL-18 and Hsp72 to diagnose different aetiologies of AKI were assessed prospectively in 67 kidney transplant recipients. In this study, urinary biomarkers were unable to differentiate immunological mediated AKI (acute rejection) from other aetiologies of AKI in kidney transplant recipients.

In a renal biopsy series, the study examined the nature of interstitial infiltrates, mainly mononuclear in origin, and provided insights into a Th17-mediated inflammatory process in omeprazole-induced acute interstitial nephritis as distinct from the Th1 and Th2 networks.