Segmentation of the nephron relative to transport mechanisms and secretory activity has been recognized for decades, beginning with the pioneering studies of Alfred Newton Richards (1). Nephron segmentation regarding transcellular sodium and water movement has been subject ...
Nitric oxide (NO) is a diatomic free-radical product of mammalian cells that has diverse and important physiological functions, including the regulation of renal, cardiovascular, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, neuronal, inflammatory, and immune systems. At the cellular level, ...
As the key enzyme in heme degradation, heme oxygenase activity governs cellular heme concentration. Heme oxygenase catalyzes the conversion of heme to carbon monoxide and bilirubin with the release of iron, which can drive the synthesis of ferritin for iron sequestration (1,2). This is the ma ...
Major aspects of renal function such as glomerular filtration, blood flow autoregulation, tubular reabsorption, and medullary concentrating ability rely on an exquisite paracrine-autocrine control of renal microvascular resistances, and on the coordinated network beha ...
As originally described by Golgi, one consistent anatomical feature of all mammalian and many vertebrate kidneys is that a segment of the distal tubule is firmly attached to the vascular pole of its own glomerulum (1). This attachment is formed early in development, and is maintained throughout ...
In vitro microperfusion was developed in order to study the transport of solutes and water across nephrons (1,2). The approach was later extended to renal microvessels for the purpose of measuring vasomotion of glomerular arterioles (3). The purpose of this chapter is to provide a general desc ...
The advent of the technique of the isolated perfused tubule allowed renal physiologists to examine the transport characteristics of all portions of the nephron for the first time. The understanding of renal function prior to the advent of in vitro microperfusion rested on the integrative u ...
Clinical research, like all research, stems from curiosity. Although some research questions are harder to answer than others, the application of a well-designed trial coupled with the right question can yield valuable information. Indeed, a poorly designed randomized trial will not g ...
Bacon’s idealistic description of a research process, as naive and utopian as it sounds today, actually depicts the many functions of a single investigator, from literature search and collection of data to attempts of summing-up the investigation: the merchant, the miner, the depredator and ...
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is one of the fastest growing threats to human health in westernised and developing countries and is associated with central obesity, atherosclerosis, dyslipidaemia, hyperinsulinaemia and hypertension. Insulin resistance, defined as a diminished response ...
The endocrine pancreas has a significant remodeling capacity that plays a crucial role in the maintenance of glucose homeostasis. Changes in beta-cell apoptosis, replication and size, and islet neogenesis contribute to the remodeling of the endocrine pancreas. The extent of their res ...
The Zucker fatty rat (fa/fa; ZR) is considered as a model for pre-diabetes, as characterised by a genetic defect in the leptin receptor, which results in hyperphagia, insulin resistance, hyperinsulinaemia, hyperlipoproteinaemia, and obesity. These animals become glucose intolera ...
To facilitate the immunological reaction of antibodies with antigens in fixed tissues, it is necessary to unmask or retrieve the antigens through pretreatment of the specimens. However, adjustment of heat-induced antigen retrieval is always required for different tissues and anti ...
Under in vivo conditions, the study of physiological and pharmacological functions of an organ is difficult due to whole-body interactions with the organ. Thus, an in vitro technique for the perfusion of isolated pancreata was developed for physiologic and response studies including the ...
Insulin resistance, the impaired ability of insulin to stimulate glucose utilization, is a major characteristic of type 2 diabetes. Insulin sensitivity can be measured using a variety of techniques that are commonly employed in diabetes research and care. Of these, hyperinsulinemic- ...
Lipoprotein(a) (Lp) was first discovered in 1963, by Kare Berg, as a variant of the beta-lipoproteins. Many years later, Lp(a) has been identified as an independent risk factor for the development of coronary heart disease (1). During the last two decades the structure and composition of Lp(a) has been i ...
The complex cascade of events leading to the formation of atheromatous plaques depends on the interaction between several cell types, growth factors, cytokines, and molecules of the extracellular matrix (ECM) (1). Among different molecules of the ECM involved in atherogenesis, the gly ...
The wall of a human artery consists of three distinct tunics. The tunica intima is lined by a layer of endothelial cells facing the lumen. Smooth muscle cells (SMCs) are the predominant cell type in the tunica media of arteries. They are surrounded by a basal lamina containing collagen IV, proteoglyca ...
Endothelial cells line the luminal surface of all blood vessels in the body. The endothelial surface in adult humans is composed of approximately l-6�l013 cells and covers an area of 1-7 m2. Endothelium serves many functions, including fluid and solute exchange through cell contraction, pro ...
Chemotaxis is a critical event in the development of atherosclerotic lesions and in the restenosis that often occurs after surgical intervention and angioplasty (1). Chemokines involved in atherogenesis include colony-stimulating factors (2), oxidized low-density lipopro ...
