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The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted racial health disparities within the United States. Although social determinants of health are the most likely drivers of this disparity, it is possible that genetic traits enriched in the black population like sickle cell trait (SCT) could worsen the morbidity and mortality of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Patients admitted for SARS-CoV-2 infection who identified as black or African American were included in the study (n = 166). Blood remnants were tested for SCT, and clinical data were abstracted from the chart. There was no difference in mortality between those with SCT and those without. There was no difference in respiratory complications between groups, but those without SCT had a much higher burden of chronic lung disease (P = .004). Those with SCT had higher creatinine on admission (P = .004), but no difference in in-hospital renal complications (P = .532). Notably, 12% of the cohort had SCT, which is higher than the expected 7.31% (P = .025). Our study did not show any evidence of increased end organ damage, morbidity, or mortality from SARS-CoV-2 infection among patients with SCT but did show differences in admission creatinine and preexisting lung disease., Key Points • There is no impact of SCT on respiratory, renal, or circulatory complications or mortality in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. • The prevalence of SCT in the hospitalized cohort was significantly higher than the prevalence in the community (12% vs 7.31%).

Sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) have revolutionized the treatment of heart failure and diabetic kidney disease. The DAPA-CKD trial by Heerspink et al. evaluated primary kidney outcomes with dapagliflozin in both diabetic and non-diabetic patients and identified kidney protection by SGLT2i independent of diabetes mellitus.

Background Pregnancy in renal transplant recipient is a high risk pregnancy, associated with increased risk of graft rejection and other complications. Many pregnancies have been reported, still there is limited data on optimal counseling and clinical management of these patients. Objectives To study maternal and fetal outcomes in renal transplant recipients. Material and methods Study design : This is a retrospective observational study conducted at tertiary health center in Ahmedabad, from 2004 to 2014. Sample size : There were 3016 renal transplant recipients out of which 2507 were males and 509 were females. Among 509 females, 211 recipients were in reproductive age group (20–40 years) who were included in the study. Out of 211 recipients, 113 (53.5%) had complete family, 46 (21.8%) did not tried for pregnancy, 33 (15.63%) were lost to follow up, 16 (7.58%) patients conceived and 3 (1.41%) were infertile. Method Maternal and fetal outcomes were studied and patients were followed up till 2 years of postpartum. Exclusion criteria : Unmarried, divorcee and widow patients were excluded. Results There were 16 patients who had conceived, out of which 8 patients had abortions, 6 patients had full term deliveries and 2 patients had preterm delivery. Two patients developed newly diagnosed gestational hypertension from 20 weeks of gestation. One patient had graft rejection 2 months post abortion and one had cholestasis of pregnancy from 7 months of gestation. On follow up, one patient expired 1 year after abortion due to tuberculosis meningitis and one patient (10 months post abortion) is on intermittent hemodialysis since 3 months, after 1.5 years of renal transplant. Conclusion These patients are at risks for developing many complications during pregnancy, out of which graft rejection is most grievous one. However, with proper peritransplant and periconceptional counseling regarding optimal time for pregnancy, these patients can have good pregnancy outcome.

The number of patients undergoing renal transplant are increasing with time. Most of these patients fall in the reproductive age group, who are going to conceive sooner or later. But there are few recipients who either are infertile before transplant or became infertile due to underlying renal pathology responsible for transplantation. To study fertility outcome in female renal transplant recipients. Study design: This is a retrospective study conducted at tertiary health center in Ahmedabad, from 2004 to 2014. Inclusion criteria: Renal transplant recipients in the reproductive age group (20–40 years of age) were followed up in gynecology outdoor patient department. Sample size: There were 211 female renal transplant recipients, out of which 113 (53.5 %) patients had complete family, 3 (1.41 %) patients were infertile, 16 (7.58 %) patients have conceived, 33 (15.63 %) patients were lost to follow-up and remaining 46 (21.8 %) did not try for pregnancy. Exclusion criteria: Unmarried patients, divorced and widow patients were excluded. Out of 19 patients, 16 patients conceived and 3 were infertile. The main cause of infertility in these patients was ovarian factor in 2 patients and tubal factor in 1 patient. Among 16 patients, 8 patients had missed abortion, 2 patients had preterm deliveries and 6 patients had term deliveries. Peritransplant and preconceptional counseling plays an important role for renal transplant recipients to help them understand the effect of renal pathology and transplantation on their fertility. They can have good fertility and pregnancy outcome with optimum functioning graft.

Solitary kidney may be congenital or as a result of nephrectomy. There is a lot of literature available on quality of life in these patients, but there is limited data on pregnancy outcome. To study pregnancy outcome in patients with solitary kidney either congenital or due to nephrectomy. Study Design This is a retrospective observational study conducted at tertiary health center in Ahmedabad, from 2011 to 2014. Sample Size There were 164 patients of solitary kidney, out of which two patients had congenital solitary kidney and the remaining had solitary kidney due to nephrectomy. Among 164 patients, 96 (58.53 %) patients had completed family, 37 (22.56 %) patients did not try for pregnancy, 15 (9.14 %) patients have conceived, 12 (7.3 %) were lost to follow up and 4 (2.43 %) patients were infertile. Method Patients in reproductive age group (20–40 years), with solitary kidney either congenital or due to nephrectomy, were included. Maternal and fetal outcome was studied, and patients were followed up till 2 years postpartum. Exclusion Criteria Patients with solitary kidney due to post-renal transplant were excluded. There were 15 (9.14 %) patients who had conceived, out of which 11 (73.33) patients delivered and 4 (26.67 %) patients had spontaneous abortion. Two patients developed gestational hypertension and one had preeclampsia. On follow-up, all babies were normal and none of them had delayed developmental milestones. Preconceptional counseling should be done in these patients regarding risk of developing preeclampsia during pregnancy and preterm delivery. These patients can have good pregnancy outcome with close monitoring during antenatal period.

Renal angiomyolipoma is a rare benign tumour and its occurrence during pregnancy is even rare. It is usually diagnosed incidentally. It can increase in size during pregnancy and can present acutely as rupture with retroperitoneal haemorrhage, mechanism of which is still unclear. We present a case of successful pregnancy outcome in a patient with congenital solitary kidney affected by angiomyolipoma, diagnosed incidentally at 19 years of age. The patient had conceived twice. Her antenatal and post partum period was uneventful both the times.

The polarized organization of epithelial cells is required for vectorial solute transport and may be altered in renal cystic diseases. Vesicle integral protein of 17 kDa (VIP17/MAL) is involved in apical vesicle transport. VIP17/MAL overexpression in vivo results in renal cystogenesis of unknown etiology. Renal cystogenesis can occur as a consequence of defects of the primary cilium. To explore the role of VIP17/MAL in renal cystogenesis and ciliogenesis, we examined the polarization and ciliary morphology of wild-type and VIP17/MAL overexpressing Madin-Darby canine kidney renal epithelial cells grown in two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) cyst culture. VIP17/MAL is apically localized when expressed in cells maintained in 2D and 3D culture. VIP17/MAL overexpressing cells produce more multilumen cysts compared with controls. While the distributions of basolateral markers are not affected, VIP17/MAL expression results in aberrant sorting of the apical marker gp135 to the primary cilium. VIP17/MAL overexpression is also associated with shortened or absent cilia. Immunofluorescence analysis performed on kidney sections from VIP17/MAL transgenic mice also demonstrates fewer and shortened cilia within dilated lumens ( P < 0.01). These studies demonstrate that VIP17/MAL overexpression results in abnormal cilium and cyst development, in vitro and in vivo, suggesting that VIP17/MAL overexpressing mice may develop cysts secondary to a ciliary defect.