Association between gene polymorphism and renal function in patients with IgA nephropathy.

Background: Studies have shown that the occurrence and development of IgA nephropathy (IgAN) are genetically susceptible, but the relationship between vitamin D receptor () gene polymorphisms and renal function in IgAN patients is unclear.

Methods: We investigated the relationship between (rs2228570) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and renal function and related clinicopathologic parameters in IgAN patients. Clinical and pathological data of 282 IgAN patients treated at the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University were collected, and genotypes were determined by PCR and direct sequencing.

Matrine suppresses lipopolysaccharide-induced fibrosis in human peritoneal mesothelial cells by inhibiting the epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

Background: Peritoneal fibrosis is the primary reason that patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) have to cease peritoneal dialysis. Peritonitis caused by Gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) were on the rise.

Kallikrein gene-modified EPCs induce angiogenesis in rats with ischemic hindlimb and correlate with integrin αvβ3 expression.

Background: Human tissue kallikrein (hTK) plays an essential role in the physiological and pathological mechanisms of blood vessels. This study aimed to determine whether angiogenesis induced by endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) transduced with the adenovirus-mediated hTK gene could improve blood flow in rat hindlimb ischemia in vivo and to establish a promising mechanism in vitro.

Methods: EPCs transduced with adenovirus encoding hTK-162 (i.

Smoking and air pollution exposure and lung cancer mortality in Zhaoyuan County.

Background: Simultaneous exposure to high levels of air pollution and high tobacco consumption at the same place is rare. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of the two factors on the risk of developing lung cancer.

Methods: Data on the number of deaths due to lung cancer and on population from 1970 to 2009 were obtained from Zhaoyuan County.

Nutrition deficiency increases the risk of stomach cancer mortality.

Background: The purpose of the study is to determine whether exposure to malnutrition during early life is associated with increased risk of stomach cancer in later life.

Methods: The design protocol included analyzing the trend of gastric cancer mortality and nutrition and evaluating the association between nutrient deficiency in early life and the risk of gastric cancer by hierarchical age-period-birth cohort (APC) analysis using general log-linear Poisson models and to compare the difference between birth cohorts who were exposed to the 1959-1961 Chinese famine and those who were not exposed to the famine. Data on stomach cancer mortality from 1970 to 2009 and the dietary patterns from 1955 to 1985 which included the 1959-1961 Chinese famine period in the Zhaoyuan County population were obtained.