Tadeusz Porowski

Bio: Tadeusz Porowski is an academic researcher from Medical University of Białystok. The author has contributed to research in topics: Kidney stones & Urinary calcium. The author has an hindex of 12, co-authored 44 publications receiving 417 citations.

The degradation of glycoconjugates in the human gastric mucous membrane.

Abstract: Autolysis of a homogenate from the human gastric mucosa results in the release of the reducing substances into the supernatant. The activities of the six glycosidases from the human gastric mucosa, N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase, N-acetyl-Beta-galactosaminidase, alpha-fucosidase, beta-galactosidase, alpha-mannosidase and alpha-glucosidase were determined. Certain properties of the enzymes are described. The significance of these enzymes in glycoprotein catabolism in the human gastric mucosa is discussed.

Urinary citrate excretion in healthy children depends on age and gender

Abstract: Background Hypocitraturia is considered a major risk factor for calcium stone formation. However, there is no widely accepted reference database of urinary citrate excretion in children. The aim of our study was to determine the amount of citrate eliminated in the urine over a 24-h period in a pediatric cohort and to determine an optimal unit reflecting excretion.

Assessment of serum cystatin C in children with congenital solitary kidney

Abstract: The aim of the study was to assess serum cystatin C level in children with a congenital solitary kidney, depending on their age and compensatory overgrowth of the kidney. The study group (I) consisted of 36 children, 3–21 years of age (median 10.8 years), with a congenital solitary kidney and no other urinary defects. The control group (C) contained 36 healthy children, 5–21 years old (median 10.9 years). Nephelometric methods were used to determine serum cystatin C level, the Jaffe method to assess creatinine concentration and the Schwartz formula to estimate glomerular filtration rate. Kidney length was measured with the patient in a supine position, and overgrowth was estimated (O%) in comparison with the respective kidney in the control group. Serum cystatin C level in group I was higher than that in the control group (P 0.05). Increased kidney length was found (median 18.2%). Cystatin C concentration was positively correlated with O% (r=0.406, P<0.01) and kidney length to child height ratio (L/H) (r=0.376, P<0.05). We conclude that Increased serum cystatin C concentration in patients with a unilateral congenital solitary kidney occurs after 12 years of age and correlates with compensatory overgrowth of the kidney.

Medscape

Abstract: Secret History: Return of the Black Death Channel 4, 7-8pm In 1348 the Black Death swept through London, killing people within days of the appearance of their first symptoms. Exactly how many died, and why, has long been a mystery. This Secret History documentary follows experts as they pick through the evidence and reveal why the plague killed on such a scale. And they ask, what might be coming next?

BMI(Body Mass Index)가 소득에 미치는 영향

Abstract: 개인의 소득에 영향을 미치는 요인으로 교육수준, 숙련도, 개인의 능력 등 무수히 많은 요인들을 생각할 수 있다. 본 연구는 이러한 여러 요인들 중에서 특히 체형(Bodily shape)가 소득에 어느 정도 영향을 미치는가에 대한 정확한 인과관계를 고찰하고자 하였다. 본 논문에서는 체형에 대한 대리변수(Proxy variable)로 체질량지수(Body Mass Index: BMI)를 사용하였으며, BMI가 갖는 내생성을 통제하여 기존의 연구들이 정확히 고찰하지 못한 BMI가 소득에 얼마나 영향을 미치는 지에 대한 인과관계를 규명하려고 하였으며 이를 위해 Two stage estimation method를 사용하였다. 1단계 추정과정에서 식료품 소비자물가지수를 도구변수로 활용하여 BMI를 추정하였고, 이렇게 추정된 BMI를 2단계 추정과정에 사용하여 체형이 소득에 미치는 영향을 고찰하였다. 추정 결과, 전체 표본을 대상으로 한 분석에서 소득수준이 낮은 구간에서는 BMI로 표현된 체형이 소득수준에 미치는 영향이 유의하였으나, 소득수준이 높은 구간에서는 이러한 영향이 유의하지 않았다. 이를 성별로 구분하여 분석해본 결과, 여성의 경우에는 BMI가 과소체중 상태(Underweight) 및 과체중 상태(Overweight)에 해당될 경우 모두 정상체중 상태의 사람에 비해 해당소득구간 대비 고소득구간에 포함될 확률이 낮아진다는 사실을 알수 있었던 반면 남성의 경우에는 과소체중 상태의 사람들의 소득수준에 BMI의 음의 영향이 발견되었을 뿐, 과체중 상태에 있는 사람의 경우 음의 영향이 발견되지 않았다. 따라서 남성의 경우보다 여성의 경우 BMI의 소득에 미치는 영향력이 상대적으로 큰 것으로 나타났다.

The Current State of Poststreptococcal Glomerulonephritis

Abstract: Poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis is one of the oldest recognized renal diseases. In the past three decades, significant changes have occurred in its epidemiology, in new insight gained in the nephritogenic characteristics of streptococcal antigens, and in the natural history of the disease. The disease is now rare in industrialized nations, but in the underprivileged world, the burden of poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis ranges between 9.5 and 28.5 new cases per 100,000 individuals per year. Prophylactic antibiotic treatment is advisable in epidemic conditions and to household contacts of index cases in communities where the prevalence of the disease is high. The long-term prognosis is variable; in general, prognosis is excellent in children but significantly worse when it occurs in elderly individuals and in populations that present other risk factors of chronic kidney disease. Contemporary large-scale research strategies such as genome-wide sequencing may uncover new information about pathogenic factors contributing to disease.

Germin and Germin-like Proteins: Evolution, Structure, and Function

Abstract: Germin and germin-like proteins (GLPs) are encoded by a family of genes found in all plants. They are part of the cupin superfamily of biochemically diverse proteins, a superfamily that has a conserved tertiary structure, though with limited similarity in primary sequence. The subgroups of GLPs have different enzyme functions that include the two hydrogen peroxide-generating enzymes, oxalate oxidase (OxO) and superoxide dismutase. This review summarizes the sequence and structural details of GLPs and also discusses their evolutionary progression, particularly their amplification in gene number during the evolution of the land plants. In terms of function, the GLPs are known to be differentially expressed during specific periods of plant growth and development, a pattern of evolutionary subfunctionalization. They are also implicated in the response of plants to biotic (viruses, bacteria, mycorrhizae, fungi, insects, nematodes, and parasitic plants) and abiotic (salt, heat/cold, drought, nutrient, and metal) stress. Most detailed data come from studies of fungal pathogenesis in cereals. This involvement with the protection of plants from environmental stress of various types has led to numerous plant breeding studies that have found links between GLPs and QTLs for disease and stress resistance. In addition the OxO enzyme has considerable commercial significance, based principally on its use in the medical diagnosis of oxalate concentration in plasma and urine. Finally, this review provides information on the nutritional importance of these proteins in the human diet, as several members are known to be allergenic, a feature related to their thermal stability and evolutionary connection to the seed storage proteins, also members of the cupin superfamily.

Diagnostic examination of the child with urolithiasis or nephrocalcinosis

Abstract: Urolithiasis and nephrocalcinosis are more frequent in children then currently anticipated, but still remain under- or misdiagnosed in a significant proportion of patients, since symptoms and signs may be subtle or misleading. All children with colicky abdominal pain or macroscopic hematuria should be examined thoroughly for urolithiasis. Also, other, more general, abdominal manifestations can be the first symptoms of renal stones. The patients and their family histories, as well as physical examination, are important initial steps for diagnostic evaluation. Thereafter, diagnostic imaging should be aimed at the location of calculi but also at identification of urinary tract anomalies or acute obstruction due to stone disease. This can often be accomplished by ultrasound examination alone, but sometimes radiological methods such as plain abdominal films or more sensitive non-enhanced computed tomography are necessary. Since metabolic causes are frequent in children, diagnostic evaluation should be meticulous so that metabolic disorders that cause recurrent urolithiasis or even renal failure, such as the primary hyperoxalurias and others, can be ruled out. The stone is not the disease itself; it is only one serious sign! Therefore, thorough and early diagnostic examination is mandatory for every infant and child with the first stone event, or with nephrocalcinosis.