Vincent Hospital Foundation.”
“Objective. The objective of the study was to assess the relationship between selected clinical and biochemical parameters of end stage renal disease (ESRD)

patients and arterial calcification. Materials and Methods. The study comprised 59 stage 5 chronic kidney disease patients (36 hemodialyzed and 23 predialysis). The examined parameters included common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA-IMT), BMI, incidence PF00299804 of diabetes and impaired fasting glucose (IFG), dyslipidemia, hypertension, and 3-year mortality. Plasma levels asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), osteopontin (OPN), osteoprotegerin (OPG), and osteocalcin (OC) were also measured. Fragments of radial artery obtained during creation of hemodialysis access were stained for calcifications using von Kossa method and alizarin red. Results. Calcification of radial artery was significantly associated with higher prevalence of IFG and diabetes (P = 0.0004) and older age (P = 0.003), as well as higher OPG (P – 0.014) and ADMA concentrations (P = 0.022). Fasting glucose > 5.6 mmol/l (IFG and

diabetes) significantly predicted vascular calcification in multiple logistic regression. The calcification was also associated with higher CCA-IMT (P – 0.006) and mortality (P GSK461364 mouse – 0.004; OR for death 5.39 [1.20-24.1] after adjustment for dialysis status and age). Conclusion. Combination of renal insufficiency and hyperglycemic conditions exerts a synergistic effect on vascular calcification P005091 in vivo and increases the risk of death.”
“Methamphetamine (MP) is a widely abused psychostimulant. There are currently no FDA approved pharmacotherapies for the MP addict. The antidepressant, mirtazapine (Mirt) is a high affinity antagonist at several monoaminergic receptors

that are affected by MP. This study evaluated the potential of Mirt as a therapeutic agent for MP addiction and described associated changes in neuronal signaling.

A single pairing conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm was utilized as a behavioral measure of MP-induced effects. Rats learned to associate unique environmental cues with the effects of 1.0 mg/kg (i.p.) MP (day 1) or saline (day 2). Mirt (5.0 mg/kg i.p.) was given in the home cage on day 3 and CPP was assessed on day 4. To evaluate signaling events that correlate with this behavior, brain tissue of these rats were dissected for immunoblot assays of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and a transcriptional regulator, cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) after the CPP test.

During the CPP test, rats conditioned with MP spent more time in the environment associated with MP. Importantly, rats given Mirt did not express CPP. MP-induced CPP was associated with a decrease in phosphorylated CREB (pCREB) in the ventral tegmental area, and decreased phosphorylated ERK and pCREB in the nucleus accumbens and treatment with Mirt did not reverse these changes.