Nephrolithasis

Gout is a common crystal-induced arthritis, in which monosodium urate (MSU) crystals precipitate within joints and soft tissues and elicit an inflammatory response. The causes of elevated serum urate and the inflammatory pathways activated by MSU crystals have been well studied, but less is known about the processes leading to crystal formation and growth. Uric acid, the final product of purine metabolism, is a weak acid that circulates as the deprotonated urate anion under physiologic conditions, and combines with sodium ions to form MSU...

The presence of kidney stones has been a relative contraindication for living donation. With the widespread use of more sensitive imaging techniques as part of the routine living donor workup, kidney stones are more frequently detected, and their clinical significance in this setting is largely unknown. Records from 325 potential kidney donors who underwent MRA or CT-angiography were reviewed; 294 proceeded to donation. The prevalence of kidney stones found incidentally during donor evaluation was 7.4% (24 of 325)...

BACKGROUND: Multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) is relatively rare. But more patients could be found by detailed examination. We discuss the diagnosis and surgical treatment of MEN. METHODS: The clinical data of 95 MEN cases were retrospectively analyzed. There were 30 cases of MEN1 including 19 cases from 6 families. The MEN1 gene mutation was detected in 81.48% of cases admitted after 1997. There were 22 cases of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), 10 cases of enteropanceatic tumor including 9 cases of insulinoma, 15 cases of pituitary adenoma, 9 cases of adrenal adenoma, 2 cases of thymic carcinoid...

Loss of function mutations of the renal chloride channel, ClC-5, have been implicated in Dent's disease, a genetic disorder characterized by low weight proteinuria, hypercalciuria, nephrolithasis and, in some cases, eventual renal failure. Recently, our laboratory used an RT-PCR/RACE cloning strategy to isolate an amphibian cDNA from the renal epithelial cell line A6 that had high homology to human ClC-5. We now report a full-length native ClC-5 clone (xClC-5, containing 5' and 3' untranslated regions) isolated by screening a cDNA library from A6 cells that was successfully expressed in Xenopus oocytes...