StOPping Hypertension and imprOving Children's Lives after KidnEy TranSplantation (SOPHOCLES): study protocol for a randomized controlled multicenter trial.

Background: Cardiovascular disease is a major morbidity in children after kidney transplantation, limiting life expectancy and impairing graft function. Arterial hypertension is the dominant cardiovascular risk factor and highly abundant in this patient group. Arterial hypertension can cause left ventricular hypertrophy, which is predictive of cardiovascular death.

Pediatric Liver and Kidney Transplant Recipients Demonstrate Greater Serological Response to SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination Than Adults.

Background: Adult solid organ transplant recipients (SOTRs) have decreased responsiveness to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination and higher incidence of infection, but there are few data on the serological response in pediatric SOTR. The aim of this study was to determine serological response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in pediatric liver (LT) and kidney transplant (KT) recipients and compare it with adult SOTR.

Methods: A European, prospective, multicenter study was performed.

Elevated septal native T1 time in cardiac magnetic resonance imaging suggesting myocardial fibrosis in young kidney transplant recipients.

Background: Patients after kidney transplantation (KTx) in childhood show a high prevalence of cardiac complications, but the underlying mechanism is still poorly understood. In adults, myocardial fibrosis detected in cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging is already an established risk factor. Data for children after KTx are not available.

Long-term Effects of Kidney Transplantation Compared With Dialysis on Intima-media Thickness in Children-Results From the 4C-T Study.

Background: Children requiring kidney replacement therapy experience high burden of cardiovascular (CV) disease leading to increased mortality. Intima-media thickness (IMT) indicating atherosclerosis is a validated surrogate marker for future CV events.

Methods: We investigated the effect of different treatment modalities (dialysis, preemptive kidney transplantation (KTx), late KTx after dialysis) on IMT by multivariable linear mixed-effect modeling.

Physical activity and its impact on cardiovascular health in pediatric kidney transplant recipients.

Background: Cardiovascular (CV) morbidity after kidney transplantation (KTx) in childhood is of increasing importance. In light of a high prevalence of CV risk factors, protective measures such as physical activity (PA) come into focus. Our aim was to comprehensively assess PA in pediatric KTx recipients and evaluate its impact on CV health.

Stricter Blood Pressure Control Is Associated With Lower Left Ventricular Mass in Children After Kidney Transplantation: A Longitudinal Analysis of the 4C-T Study.

Background: We assessed the effect of blood pressure (BP) control on left ventricular mass index (LVMI) and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH).

Methods: Ninety-six patients (64 males) ≥9 months post-kidney transplantation from the 4C-T (Cardiovascular Comorbidity in Children with Chronic Kidney Disease and Transplantation) study were analyzed longitudinally (mean follow-up, 2.6±1.

Cardiovascular health and potential cardiovascular risk factors in young athletes.

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease remains the most common cause of death worldwide, and early manifestations are increasingly identified in childhood and adolescence. With physical inactivity being the most prevalent modifiable risk factor, the risk for cardiovascular disease is deemed low in people engaging in regular physical exercise. The aim of this study was to investigate early markers and drivers of cardiovascular disease in young athletes pursuing a career in competitive sports.

The significance of central blood pressure for cardiovascular target organ damage in children and adolescents after kidney transplantation.

Background: Cardiovascular (CV) complications are important causes of morbidity and mortality in children after kidney transplantation (KTx). In adults, central blood pressure (cBP) is an accepted predictor of CV sequelae. We aimed to assess the prognostic value of cBP over peripheral blood pressure (pBP) for existing CV damage.

Blood pressure response to exercise in children and adolescents.

Blood pressure changes during exercise are part of the physiological response to physical activity. Exercise stress testing can detect an exaggerated blood pressure response in children and adolescent. It is applied for certain clinical conditions, but is also commonly used as part of the assessment of athletes.

Telomere length is associated with intima-media thickness in pediatric liver transplant patients: A prospective cohort study.

Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a marker for biological age. Pediatric liver transplant recipients show a high rate of subclinical atherosclerosis, indicated by elevated intima-media thickness (IMT). We hypothesized that atherosclerosis is associated with biological age in these patients and investigated the course of LTL over time.

Impact of Sex and Obesity on Echocardiographic Parameters in Children and Adolescents.

Subclinical alterations in left ventricular structure and function are detectable in adolescents with hypertension or obesity. However, data on early echocardiographic abnormalities in seemingly healthy children are lacking. Sex differences in cardiac structure and function have been previously reported, but sex-specific reference values are not available.

Tryptophan-2,3-Dioxygenase (TDO) deficiency is associated with subclinical neuroprotection in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis.

The catabolism of tryptophan to immunosuppressive and neuroactive kynurenines is a key metabolic pathway regulating immune responses and neurotoxicity. The rate-limiting step is controlled by indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) and tryptophan-2,3-dioxygenase (TDO). IDO is expressed in antigen presenting cells during immune reactions, hepatic TDO regulates blood homeostasis of tryptophan and neuronal TDO influences neurogenesis.

Protein kinase Cβ as a therapeutic target stabilizing blood-brain barrier disruption in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

Disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a hallmark of acute inflammatory lesions in multiple sclerosis (MS) and its animal model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. This disruption may precede and facilitate the infiltration of encephalitogenic T cells. The signaling events that lead to this BBB disruption are incompletely understood but appear to involve dysregulation of tight-junction proteins such as claudins.