Kidney Diseases Clinical Trials

Randomized comparison of patient outcomes following standard PCNL versus mini-PCNL. Read Less

Studying the causal roles of components of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (including angiotensin-(1-7) (Ang-(1-7)), angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), Ang II, and ACE), uric acid, and klotho in pediatric hypertension and related target organ injury, including in the heart, kidneys, vasculature, and brain. Recruiting children with a new hypertension diagnosis over a 2-year period from the Hypertension and Pediatric Nephrology Clinics affiliated with Brenner Children's Hospital at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and Atrium Health Levine Children's Hospital. Healthy control participants will be recruited from local general primary care practices. Collecting blood and urine samples to analyze components of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (Ang-(1-7), ACE2, Ang II, ACE), uric acid, and klotho, and measuring blood pressure, heart structure and function, autonomic function, vascular function, and kidney function at baseline, year 1, and year 2. Objectives are to investigate phenotypic and treatment response variability and to causally infer if Ang-(1-7), ACE2, Ang II, ACE, uric acid, and klotho contribute to target organ injury due to hypertension. Read Less

Hispanic/Latino (HL) and American Indian (AI) patients are more likely than whites to have kidney failure, but less likely to complete transplant evaluation or receive a kidney transplant (KT), the best treatment for kidney failure. Using comparative effectiveness research methods, we will conduct a pragmatic randomized trial to compare the efficacy and cost- effectiveness of two approaches to help HL and AI patients overcome barriers to completing transplant evaluation and receiving a KT: a streamlined KT evaluation process and a peer-assisted evaluation program; and, we will determine best practices to assist other transplant centers in implementing the better program. Findings from this work may help reduce disparities in transplant evaluation and KT. Read Less

1.1. Background: Renal transplantation is the treatment of choice for eligible patients with end-stage renal disease. It provides better outcomes in terms of life expectancy and quality of life than dialysis (Liu, Narins, Maley, Frank, \& Lallas, 2012). Kidney transplants from living donors also have additional benefits in terms of graft function and survival compared to transplants from cadaver donors (Galvani et al., 2012). Living donor transplants provide an opportunity to have good quality grafts and to perform the procedure when the recipient is in an optimal clinical status (Creta et al., 2019). Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy was first introduced in 1995 and is currently accepted as the gold standard for kidney procurement from living donors. The first worldwide robotic assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy was performed in 2000 by Horgan et al. (Horgan et al., 2007). The main obstacle to living donation is the exposure of a healthy subject to the risks of a major surgical intervention. Therefore, efforts have been made to reduce complications and postoperative pain, achieve faster recovery, and minimize the surgical incisions. Minimally invasive procedures like hand-assisted and robotic approaches greatly enhance living donation rates, and in 2001 the number of living donors exceeded the number of cadaver donors (Horgan et al., 2007). 1.2. Aim(s)/Objective(s): The objective of this study is to compare intra- and postoperative patient outcomes of kidney donors following hand-assisted and robotic kidney transplants at a single center. 1.3. Rationale for the study: More research is needed regarding the differences between minimally invasive approaches to kidney transplantation. Read Less

Stone disease is a common condition, affecting approximately 9% of Americans in 2007. It causes great morbidity and is also a costly condition, estimated to cost the US healthcare system approximately 3.79 billion dollars in 2007. Ureteroscopy (URS) is the most commonly performed surgical treatment for upper tract stone disease. Ureteral stenting is a common practice after ureteroscopy and placed in \~75% of cases to prevent ureteral edema and renal obstruction. Unfortunately, ureteral stenting can be very painful and has been shown to increase the rate of emergency room visits. Many strategies have been attempted to decrease pain with ureteral stenting including modification of stent material and designs, but efforts so far have been unsuccessful in decreasing stent-related morbidity. Stent-related morbidity is hypothesized to be secondary to irritation of ureteral/bladder mucosa and muscle. Analgesics such as alpha blockers and NSAIDs have been shown to reduce stent morbidity. Anticholinergic drugs are also utilized as they decrease bladder spasms and, therefore, are hypothesized to reduce stent irritation. However, the evidence for anticholinergics has been conflicting. Anticholinergics also have a serious side effect profile including dry mouth, dry eyes, constipation, urinary retention, blurred vision, and even dementia. Some authors even hypothesize that these side effects may offset any purported benefits the anticholinergics provide for stent-morbidity. Methocarbamol is anti-spasmodic muscle relaxant that is believed to work by acting on central neurons and possibly by blocking sodium channels. Given that anticholinergics have many side effects and questionable efficacy, the investigators hypothesize that methocarbamol may achieve superior analgesia for stent morbidity and stent-related bladder spasms. Oxybutynin is used for the treatment of overactive bladder. The rationale is that the oxybutynin relaxes the muscles in the bladder to help decrease problems of urgency and frequent urination caused by the urinary stent irritation. Since anticholinergics have multiple side effects, finding an equally efficacious alternative with less side effects is highly desirable. This study will evaluate the clinical and demographic factors of patients undergoing ureteroscopy and treated postoperatively with methocarbamol vs. oxybutynin for stent-related morbidity. Additionally, the study will aim to understand the postoperative outcomes and complication rates of patients discharged with methocarbamol vs. oxybutynin after ureteroscopy with a ureteral stent in place. Read Less

Randomized controlled trial of a curriculum intervention teaching patients to eat a whole-food plant-based dietary pattern versus standard of care in kidney transplant recipients within the first few months of transplant Read Less

The overarching hypothesis is that CF carriers are at increased risk for developing most of the extrapulmonary conditions associated with CF compared to the general population. Specifically, it is hypothesized that this pilot data will detect subclinical evidence of pancreatic and kidney disorders among CF carriers. This will be determined by bringing CF carriers and controls to the CRU for one visit where they will answer survey questions and undergo laboratory testing. Additionally, they will collect urine and stool samples at home that will be sent to outside laboratories for testing. Read Less

The APOLLO study is being done in an attempt to improve outcomes after kidney transplantation and to improve the safety of living kidney donation based upon variation in the apolipoprotein L1 gene (APOL1). Genes control what is inherited from a family, such as eye color or blood type. Variation in APOL1 can cause kidney disease. African Americans, Afro-Caribbeans, Hispanic Blacks, and Africans are more likely to have the APOL1 gene variants that cause kidney disease. APOLLO will test DNA from kidney donors and recipients of kidney transplants for APOL1 to determine effects on kidney transplant-related outcomes. Read Less

The goal of this study is to better understand the effects of a sodium-glucose transport protein 2 inhibitor, dapagliflozin, added on to standard of care on heart and lung function and circulating metabolites (substances created when our bodies break down food, drugs, or its own tissues) in patients with chronic kidney disease. Read Less

To collect, preserve, and/or distribute annotated biospecimens and associated medical data to institutionally approved, investigator-directed biomedical research to discover and develop new treatments, diagnostics, and preventative methods for specific and complex conditions. Read Less

This research is being done to better understand the impact of the use of a specific physical activity training program (GH Method) in dialysis/kidney disease patients. Read Less

A central goal of this data repository is to collect data from a large population of subjects with a variety of renal disease states. Cohorts will include subjects with diabetes, inflammatory/autoimmune and transplant related renal conditions. Additionally, the repository will have the capacity to store biospecimens and electronic data in control subjects without established renal disease. This initiative will provide an opportunity to compare data from various disease states and controls with the objective of determining clinical and biological factors that predict disease progression, response to therapy and identify discriminating noninvasive clinical and biological features that predict renal biopsy findings. Read Less