There is a strong association between elevated circulating fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF23) levels and adverse outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) of all stages. Initially discovered as a regulator of phosphate and vitamin D homeostasis, FGF23 has now been implicated in several pathophysiological mechanisms that may negatively impact the cardiovascular and renal systems. F...

Accurate assessment of pulmonary and extrapulmonary organ involvement in sarcoidosis is one of the great challenges for clinicians. This assessment includes the evaluation of symptoms and of sarcoidosis activity in a specific organ and its functional consequences. In this review, radiological and nuclear techniques to image the inflammatory activity of sarcoidosis are described, in particular F...

THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-Renal Physiology is pleased to announce a new series of articles called Perspectives: From Bedside to Bench. This reversal of the usual expression “bench to bedside” indicates that the flow of information in these articles is from the clinical experience to the basic research arena. These invited review articles will be written by clinician scientists who acti...

The combination of microbubbles and ultrasound has emerged as a promising method for local drug delivery. Microbubbles can be locally activated by a targeted ultrasound beam, which can result in several bio-effects. For drug delivery, microbubble-assisted ultrasound is used to increase vascular- and plasma membrane permeability for facilitating drug extravasation and the cellular uptake of drug...

The discovery and development of the bisphosphonates (BPs) as a major class of drugs for the treatment of bone diseases has been a fascinating journey that is still not over. In clinical medicine, several BPs are established as the treatments of choice for various diseases of excessive bone resorption, including Paget's disease of bone, myeloma and bone metastases, and osteoporosis. Bisphosphon...

Sepsis is a syndrome related to severe infections. It is defined as the systemic host response to microorganisms in previously sterile tissues and is characterized by end-organ dysfunction away from the primary site of infection. The normal host response to infection is complex and aims to identify and control pathogen invasion, as well as to start immediate tissue repair. Both the cellular and...

Monoclonal antibodies have been considered promising therapeutic entities due to their highly specific binding to antigens. For oncology in particular, the tumor specific binding of an antibody, without affecting normal tissue, is considered an ideal cancer therapy. Although the proposed mechanism of action of antibody therapeutics varies by targets and indications, antibody-dependent cytotoxic...

The tumor suppressor protein p53 is negatively regulated by Mdm2, a ubiquitin ligase protein that targets p53 for degradation. Mdmx (also known as Mdm4) is a relative of Mdm2 that was identified on the basis of its ability to physically interact with p53. An increasing body of evidence, including recent genetic studies, suggests that Mdmx also acts as a key negative regulator of p53. Aberrant e...

PURPOSE The nature of biomedical research affords a broad range of investigational topics at the preclinical stage, not all of which may be explored in subsequent clinical studies. To provide a comprehensive perspective on the physiologic effects of the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor linagliptin, this review will discuss the results of both preclinical and clinical research, summarizing data ...