Freely Filtered, a NephJC Podcast

I know 2026 feels like it ihas been here for months, but only a few weeks ago we were celebrating the nephrology accomplishments of 2025. The New Filtrate came together to review the year.

The Filtrate
Joel Topf‍ ‍@kidneyboy.bsky.social‬ (COI)
Swapnil Hiremath @hswapnil.medsky.social and on LinkedIn Editor in Chief of Kidney International Case Reports
Anna Gaddy (@AnnaGaddy) Winner of NephJC Rookie of the Year 2020
Nayan Arora (@CaptainChloride.bsky.social)
AC (@medpeedskidneys.bsky.social)
Vipin Verghese (@vipvargh.bsky.social) co-winner of NephJC Engaged Scientist of the Year in 2021
Brian Rifkin (@brianrifkin.bsky.social) Co-Editor in Chief NephJC. Winner of NephJC Rookie of the Year 2021
Cristina Popa (@NephroSeeker) Co-Editor in Chief NephJC. Wwinner of NephJC Rookie of the Year 2022 and MVP 2023

Editing and Show Notes by
Anna Gaddy and Joel Topf
The Kidney Connection written and performed by Tim Yau
Show Notes
Top Stories in Nephrology 2025 (NephJC)
First Top sories in Nephrology 2010! (Renal Fellow Network)
Links to all of the Top Stories in Nephrology, hosted on NephJC since 2017 (NephJC)
1. IgA Nephropathy
VISIONARY: Sibeprenlimab in IgA Nephropathy — Interim Analysis of a Phase 3 Trial (NEJM)
ORIGIN 3: A Phase 3 Trial of Atacicept in Patients with IgA Nephropathy (NEJM)
APPLAUSE-IgA Alternative Complement Pathway Inhibition with Iptacopan in IgA Nephropathy (NEJM)
Aliza M. Thompson, MD, MS (ASN)
2. Lupus Nephritis
REGENCY: Efficacy and Safety of Obinutuzumab in Active Lupus Nephritis (NEJM)
3. Nobel prize winner and peripheral immune tolerance
4. Xenotransplantation
5. GLP1ra Revolution
Remodel REMODELing mechanistic trials for kidney disease: a multimodal, tissue-centered approach to understand the renal mechanism of action of semaglutide (Kidney International)
SURPASS-CVOT Tirzepatide vs. Dulaglutide Is Associated with Reduced Major Kidney Events in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes, CVD, and Very High-Risk Kidney Diseases (Kidney Week abstract in JASN)
Poll: 1 in 8 Adults Say They Are Currently Taking a GLP-1 Drug for Weight Loss, Diabetes or Another Condition, Even as Half Say the Drugs Are Difficult to Afford (KFF survey)
6. GDMT implementation in CKD: lessons learnt from CONFIDENCE and MIRO-CKD
Confidence Finerenone with Empagliflozin in Chronic Kidney Disease and Type 2 Diabetes (NEJM)
MIRO-CKD Balcinrenone in combination with dapagliflozin compared with dapagliflozin alone in patients with chronic kidney disease and albuminuria: a randomised, active-controlled double-blind, phase 2b clinical trial (The Lancet)
7. Flozin Meta analysis
SMART-C. SGLT2 Inhibitors and Kidney Outcomes by Glomerular Filtration Rate and Albuminuria. A Meta-Analysis (JAMA)
SMART-C. Effects of Sodium Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors by Diabetes Status and Level of Albuminuria. A Meta-Analysis (JAMA)
8. Paradigm Shift: Aiming for CKD Remission
9. Fish Oil and Dialysis
PISCES Fish-Oil Supplementation and Cardiovascular Events in Patients Receiving Hemodialysis (NEJM)
10. Decline in Dialysis Patients in the United States
USRD 2025 Annual Data Report (USRDS)
Tubular Secretion
Swapnil Hiremath Alien Earth on FX Hulu (Wikipedia)
AC A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (Wikipedia) and The Muppet Christmas Carol (Wikipedia)
Anna Monty Don (Wikipedia)
Nayan Back Street Boys at The Sphere (Wikipedia)
Brian Marty Supreme (Wikipedia)
Cristina The Yellow Tie (Wikipedia)
Vipin Stranger Things, good for a four year old? (Wikipedia)
Joel Crash Course: The Universe with Katie Mack and John Green (Apple PodCasts)

The Filtrate
Joel Topf‍ ‍@kidneyboy.bsky.social‬ (COI)
Sophia Ambruso @sophia-kidney.bsky.social
Swapnil Hiremath @hswapnil.medsky.social and on LinkedIn
Special Guests
Jonathan Barratt Professor of Renal Medicine, University of Leicester Google Scholar (COI: all the companies)
Editing and Show Notes by
Nayan Arora @captainchloride.bsky.social
The Kidney Connection written and performed by Tim Yau
Show Notes
Proteinuria Reduction as a Surrogate End Point in Trials of IgA Nephropathy (Aliza Thompson, 2019 PubMed)
The number, quality, and coverage of randomized controlled trials in nephrology (PubMed 2004)
A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Rituximab in IgA Nephropathy with Proteinuria and Renal Dysfunction (PubMed 2017)
BLISS Belimumab in lupus nephritis (NephJC | PubMed)
The Phase 2 trial of atacicept A phase 2b, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial of atacicept for treatment of IgA nephropathy (PubMed)
The phase 3 trial of atacicept, the subject of this podcast A Phase 3 Trial of Atacicept in Patients with IgA Nephropathy (PubMed | NephJC)
The use of Gd-IgA1 in the Testing Trial Role of Systemic Glucocorticoids in Reducing IgA and Galactose-Deficient IgA1 Levels in IgA Nephropathy (PubMed)
If you can’t get enough Jon Barratt, take a look at his grand rounds at The University of Ottawa. Updates to the KDIGO Guidelines for the treatment of IgA nephropathy, with Prof Jonathan Barratt (YouTube)
Tubular Secretion
Swapnil Hiremath Pluribus on Apple TV (Wikipedia)
Jon Barratt Lynyrd Skynyrd (Wikipedia) Slow Horses (Wikipedia) on AppleTV
Joel Topf the new ASN

The Filtrate
Joel Topf‍ ‍@kidneyboy.bsky.social‬ (COI)
Pedro Teixeira @nephcrit.bsky.social
Ana Gaddy @AnnaGaddy
Nayan Arora @captainchloride.bsky.social
Special Guests
David Goldfarb Professor of Medicene, NYU (COI)
Editing by
Pedro Teixeira
The Kidney Connection written and performed by Tim Yau
Show Notes
BICARBICU 2018 (Lancet)
BICARBICU-2 2025 (JAMA)
SOFA score (Wikipedia)
Sodium bicarbonate administration for metabolic acidosis in the intensive care unit: a target trial emulation (PubMed)
Effect of sodium bicarbonate on intracellular pH under different buffering conditions (PubMed)
Evaluating the clinical and cost-effectiveness of Sodium Bicarbonate administration for critically ill patients with Acute Kidney Injury (MOSAICC) (ICNARC Site)
SODium BICarbonate for Metabolic Acidosis in the ICU (SODa-BIC) (ClinicalTrials.gov)
Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines 2021 (Website)
Tubular Secretions
Nayan: Louise Penny, The Black Wolf (Amazon)
Anna: Broom Gate: A Curling Scandle (CBC)
Pedro: One Battle After Another! (Wikipedia)
David: Patti Smith (Wikipedia)
Bonus pick: Kids Rarely Read Whole Books Anymore. Even in English Class. (NYT)
Joel: Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown (Film Wikipedia | Book Wikipedia)

The Filtrate
Joel Topf‍ ‍@kidneyboy.bsky.social‬ (COI)
Swapnil Hiremath @hswapnil.medsky.social and on LinkedIn
Pedro Teixeira @nephcrit.bsky.social
Special Guests
Charmaine E Lok, MD Professor of Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
Editing and Show Notes by
Joel Topf
The Kidney Connection written and performed by Tim Yau
Show Notes
Fish-Oil Supplementation and Cardiovascular Events in Patients Receiving Hemodialysis NEJM | NephJC
What works in hemodialysis?
Iron: PIVOTAL Trial (NEJM)
Hemodiafiltration: CONVINCE (NEJM)
That’s the whole list
Earlier work on vascular access, The FISH Trial: Effect of fish oil supplementation on graft patency and cardiovascular events among patients with new synthetic arteriovenous hemodialysis grafts: a randomized controlled trial JAMA
Eskimo myth: "Fishing" for the origins of the "Eskimos and heart disease" story: facts or wishful thinking? (PubMed)
Dialysis patients have low levels of fish oil in their body (PubMedCentral)
Positive trial in non-dialysis patients: REDUCE-IT
Negative trial of fish oil in non-dialysis patients: STRENGTH
ACC does not recommend FISH Oil for primary or secondary prevention of CV events (ACC)
Poisson distribution (Wikipedia)
Ocean Nutrition Canada (Wikipedia)
Ocean Nutrition was bought by DSM (Press Release)
DSM merged with Firmenich (Press Release)
Vanguard feasibility trials (PubMed)
Freezing fish oil caps will eliminate the fishy aftertaste (Pharmacists Letter)
The study also received a philanthropic donation from Mr. Alexander Epstein (UHN Research)
Selection Bias, Interventions and Outcomes for Survivors of Cardiac Arrest (PubMedCentral)
Effectiveness of fish oil in controlling inflammation in adult patients undergoing hemodialysis: A systematic review and meta-analysis (PubMed)
Tubular Secretions
Swapnil Hiremath: Michael Clayton (IMDB)
Pedro: Fifa World Cup Soccer coming to North America with Portugal! (FIFA)
Charmaine: New Puppy, Rose. It’s a Barbet (Wikipedia)
Joel Topf: The Dark Forrest by Liu Cixin (Wikipedia)

The Filtrate
Joel Topf‍ ‍@kidneyboy.bsky.social‬ (COI)
Sophia Ambruso @sophia-kidney.bsky.social
Swapnil Hiremath @hswapnil.medsky.social and on LinkedIn
Special Guests
Jonathan Barratt Professor of Renal Medicine, University of Leicester Google Scholar (COI: all the companies)
Editing and Show Notes by
Nayan Arora @captainchloride.bsky.social
The Kidney Connection written and performed by Tim Yau
Show Notes
Proteinuria Reduction as a Surrogate End Point in Trials of IgA Nephropathy (Aliza Thompson, 2019 PubMed)
The number, quality, and coverage of randomized controlled trials in nephrology (PubMed 2004)
Updated here (PubMed | NephJC discussion)
A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Rituximab in IgA Nephropathy with Proteinuria and Renal Dysfunction (PubMed 2017)
BLISS Belimumab in lupus nephritis (NephJC | PubMed)
The Phase 2 trial of atacicept A phase 2b, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial of atacicept for treatment of IgA nephropathy (PubMed)
The phase 3 trial of atacicept, the subject of this podcast A Phase 3 Trial of Atacicept in Patients with IgA Nephropathy (PubMed | NephJC)
Christos’ Bluesky post:
https://bsky.app/profile/christosargyrop.bsky.social/post/3m5bsujwg3s2q
The use of Gd-IgA1 in the Testing Trial Role of Systemic Glucocorticoids in Reducing IgA and Galactose-Deficient IgA1 Levels in IgA Nephropathy (PubMed)
If you can’t get enough Jon Barratt, take a look at his grand rounds at The University of Ottawa. Updates to the KDIGO Guidelines for the treatment of IgA nephropathy, with Prof Jonathan Barratt (YouTube)
Tubular Secretion
Swapnil Hiremath Pluribus on Apple TV (Wikipedia)
Jon Barratt Lynyrd Skynyrd (Wikipedia) Slow Horses (Wikipedia) on AppleTV
Joel Topf the new ASN