Kidney MAPS: Volunteer opportunity

Kidney MAPS (Mentoring and Assessment Program for Students) was established by the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) to promote interest in nephrology careers through student-organized community screening programs that identify people at risk for diabetes and hypertension in medically under-served communities. Each chapter is supported by practicing nephrologists who volunteer their time and mentor medical students. 

The goal of Kidney MAPS is to recruit and mentor the next generation of nephrologists early in their careers by showing students the risk factors for chronic kidney disease, the effects of kidney disease on public health and the increasing need for medical professionals to help combat it.

Currently, ASN supports student chapters at Emory University, Indiana University and the University of Louisville.

In addition, as a part of Kidney MAPS, the ASN and chapters headquartered in the Kidney Week host city partners with the American Kidney Fund to host a Kidney Action Day screening event to kick-off Kidney Week each year. In 2013, the Emory University Kidney MAPS Chapter partnered with AKF to screen nearly 250 patients.

For more information about the Kidney MAPS program and learn how to establish chapter at your institution, please contact Lisa Bryan at lbryan@asn-online.org. 

Concept Map: Nephrotoxic effects of Designer Drugs

This is a comprehensive concept map of renal toxicities of designer drugs such as SPICE, NMDA receptor blockers and so forth. This is based on a recent review in Nature by Luciano and Perazella. Click on image to enlarge for better details.

Nephro Pathology Jacob Churg Award Winner

The role of nephro pathologist in the teaching of our fellows in training is very critical. A nephrologist without pathology knowledge is incomplete. ASN has had past presidents who have been renal pathologists. It shows the major importance of such individuals in the field of nephrology.

            Every year, the renal pathology society awards a special individual the Jacob Churg Award and I was so excited to hear that this year’s award went to Dr Surya Seshan from Weill Cornell Medical Center. The reasons for my excitement are multiple fold:- She was my guru in pathology component of my nephrology training days; she is truly an excellent pathologist and a good mentor. 

            Please have a look at this amazing review by D’Agati in AJKD on the rise of pathology in nephrology. As we enter a new era in glomerular diseases, the role of the renal pathologist is strengthened in nephrology. 

Concept Map: Metabolic Alkalosis

Kidney Treks: Physiology training for medical students

Kidney TREKS (Tutored Research and Education for Kidney Scholars) was established by the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) in 2013. 

In its second year, the program fosters interest in nephrology careers and biomedical research through a week-long research course retreat and long-term mentorship program.

This year, 25 medical students and 5 graduate students will attend an “Origins of Renal Physiology” course for students at the renowned Mount Desert Island Biologics Laboratory (MDIBL) in Bar Harbor, ME.

The course enhances first-year medical students' understanding of basic physiological concepts through hands-on experiments in a research laboratory. Organized around several modules that examine all aspects of kidney function, such as water homeostasis, salt homeostasis and secretion, acid/base homeostasis, glomerular function, and personalized medicine and genetics, the course offers opportunities for practicing classical experiments using model systems (toad, zebrafish, roundworm, shark, Xenopus oocyte) combined with modern molecular techniques.

After the course, ASN matches each student with a nephrologist-mentor who will interact with them over the course of medical school training, graduate school or postdoctoral fellowship.

Hope programs like these will enhance interest in nephrology among our medical students. 

For more information about Kidney TREKS program, please visit the ASN website. 

ISN Pathology Teaching slides

The ISN pathology section has created an amazing array of pathology slides that can be viewed on line for teaching purposes.

Check out the 22 cases that are discussed by Dr Agnes Fogo using Webscope and you are able to move and enlarge the slides. Amazing feature

In the NEWS: PPIs and renal disease

          We are convinced that proton pump inhibitors have now been associated with acute interstitial nephritis. Perhaps the mass use of these agents in themedicine world has led to a sore of cases of AKI from AIN. The New Zealandnephrologists took it a step further and have conducted the largest study to dateon looking at AIN from PPIs.  They did a nested case control study using national health and drug dispensing data from NZ to estimate the relative and absolute risk of AIN resulting in hospitalization or death from proton pump inhibitors. This was published in KI March 2014. 

1.       They identified close to 800,000 patients from the collection that had one course of PPI.  Subsequently they studied close to 600,000 patients from 2005-2009.  Cases of first diagnosis of AIN were done by hospital discharge summaries and renal histology in some cases.  Ten controls were matched for each case they found.  They identified 1164 patients as cases with the AIN diagnosis from PPI. 

2.       The cases and controls were equally matched.

3.       The most common PPI in both cohorts was Omeprazole followed by pantoprozole and then lansoprazole.

4.       The unadjusted matched odds ratio for was 5.16 for current vs past use of PPI.  The crude incidence rates in 100,000person years was 11.98 for current use.  The current use of PPI was associated with significant risk of AIN resulting in hospitalization compared to past use.

5.       Case control study; small number of cases for overall population but still interesting. Other drug confounders?  Age and sex confounders or other medical conditions- authors don’t think this explains it.

Have PPIs replaced antibiotics and NSAIDS as the most common cause of AIN now?