The objective of this study was to predict adherence to measurement protocol based on symptoms of anxiety, depression and worrying in post-kidney transplant patients. Nowadays the aftercare of...Show moreThe objective of this study was to predict adherence to measurement protocol based on symptoms of anxiety, depression and worrying in post-kidney transplant patients. Nowadays the aftercare of kidney transplant patients consist of frequent hospital visits for testing. In this study 49 patients were given the opportunity to monitor their symptoms at home instead trough a finger prick to analyse creatine levels in their blood. They took these measurements up to a year after the transplant. Adherence to this protocol was objectively measured by collecting data from The StatSensor® Xpress-i™, the device used to measure creatinine in the blood. Adherence to the protocol was interpreted both as a percentage of adherence (continuous) and adherent or non-adherent (dichotomous). Patients were considered adherent if they performed at least 75% of the measurements prescribed by the protocol. Since non-adherence could lead to serious health risks, it is important to understand its potential risk factors. The level of anxiety and depression was measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and worrying was measured by the Transplant Effects Questionnaire. It was hypothesised that both anxiety and depression would have a negative effect on adherence to the measurement protocol. For worrying a non-linear relation was expected, which means that there would be an optimal level of worrying which leads to better adherence. The relation between these factors and adherence was measured through regression analyses and logistic regression analyses. The analyses showed no significant relation between anxiety, depression, worrying and adherence. Therefore this study showed that symptoms of anxiety, depression and worrying are not risk factors for objective adherence to measurement protocol in post-kidney transplant patients.Show less
Current kidney organoid protocols that differentiate human induced pluripotent stem cells into kidney cell types are still unable to grow an entire set of kidney cell types nor functional kidney...Show moreCurrent kidney organoid protocols that differentiate human induced pluripotent stem cells into kidney cell types are still unable to grow an entire set of kidney cell types nor functional kidney structures. Protocols of Morizane[1] and Taguchi[2][3] were adapted to improve their results on one human induced pluripotent stem cell line. When we adjusted the Taguchi protocol we were unable to differentiate the cells beyond the metanephric mesenchyme stage. However, with the refined Morizane protocol, we observed podocyte-like cells which clustered together and formed small structures. Nevertheless, the cell line that we used did not form tubular structures as was expected from the Morizane paper. Presumably, different cell lines respond differently to the same protocol. Therefore, in addition to refining kidney organoid protocols, it is recommended to increase the docility of cell lines such that cells exhibit the same differentiation behaviour.Show less
