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Clinical and experimental use of probiotic formulations for management of end-stage renal disease: an update

  • Nephrology - Review
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Abstract

Nowadays kidney transplantation and dialysis are the only available therapies for end-stage renal disease management. They imply a considerable increase in plasma concentration of uremic wastes including creatinine, urea and uric acid. These invasive procedures impose high social costs that prevent many low-income countries from adequately treating the patients affected by renal insufficiency. For years, many studies on uremic waste removal through the gut lumen have been published with conflicting results. More recently, microencapsulation of probiotic bacteria has been performed by different research groups. This evidence has opened a new perspective on therapeutic modification of gut bacterial flora in the context of renal disease. This review gives an overview of the experimental and clinical use of probiotic formulations in the context of end-stage renal disease.

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Acknowledgments

The authors contributed equally to this work. This review was not supported by grants. The authors thank Professor Decenzio Bonucchi (Nephrology division, Policlinico di Modena, Italy) for his precious advice.

Conflict of interest

The authors certify that they have no conflict of interest with any financial organization regarding the material discussed in this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Surgery and Surgical Specialties, Surgical Clinic, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia Medical School, Modena, Italy

    Alessandro Di Cerbo, Federica Pezzuto, Valentina Rottigni & Beniamino Palmieri

  2. Nephrology and Dialysis Division, University of Modena, Modena, Italy

    Lucia Palmieri

  3. Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Kentucky Medical Center, Lexington, KY, 40536-0298, USA

    Tommaso Iannitti

Authors
  1. Alessandro Di Cerbo
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  2. Federica Pezzuto
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  3. Lucia Palmieri
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  4. Valentina Rottigni
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  5. Tommaso Iannitti
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  6. Beniamino Palmieri
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Correspondence to Tommaso Iannitti.

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Di Cerbo, A., Pezzuto, F., Palmieri, L. et al. Clinical and experimental use of probiotic formulations for management of end-stage renal disease: an update. Int Urol Nephrol 45, 1569–1576 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11255-012-0335-5

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