Panel miRNAs are potential diagnostic markers for chronic kidney diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Accurate detection of kidney damage is key to preventing renal failure, and identifying biomarkers is essential for this purpose. We aimed to assess the accuracy of miRNAs as diagnostic tools for chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Methods: We thoroughly searched five databases (MEDLINE, Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, and CENTRAL) and performed a meta-analysis using R software.

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of microRNA Profiling Studies in Chronic Kidney Diseases.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) represents an increasing health burden. Evidence suggests the importance of miRNA in diagnosing CKD, yet the reports are inconsistent. This study aimed to determine novel miRNA biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets from hypothesis-free miRNA profiling studies in human and murine CKDs.

Influence of vitamin D supplementation on muscle strength and exercise capacity in Mongolian schoolchildren: a randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To determine whether weekly oral vitamin D supplementation influences grip strength, explosive leg power, cardiorespiratory fitness or spirometric lung volumes in Mongolian schoolchildren.

Methods: Multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial conducted in children aged 6-13 years at baseline attending 18 schools in Ulaanbaatar. The intervention was weekly oral doses of 14,000 IU vitamin D (n=4418) or placebo (n=4433) for 3 years.

Pioglitazone Protects Tubular Epithelial Cells during Kidney Fibrosis by Attenuating miRNA Dysregulation and Autophagy Dysfunction Induced by TGF-β.

Excessive renal TGF-β production and pro-fibrotic miRNAs are important drivers of kidney fibrosis that lack any efficient treatment. Dysfunctional autophagy might play an important role in the pathogenesis. We aimed to study the yet unknown effects of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) agonist pioglitazone (Pio) on renal autophagy and miRNA dysregulation during fibrosis.

HK-2 cell response to TGF-β highly depends on cell culture medium formulations.

The immortalized human renal proximal tubular epithelial cell line HK-2 is most commonly used to study renal cell physiology and human kidney diseases with tubulointerstitial fibrosis such as diabetic nephropathy, obstructive uropathy or allograft fibrosis. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is the main pathological process of tubulointerstitial fibrosis in vitro. Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) is a key inducer of EMT.

The combination of ulinastatin and somatostatin reduces complication rates in acute pancreatitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Currently, there is no specific pharmaceutical agent for treating acute pancreatitis (AP). Somatostatin and its analogues have been used to prevent the autolysis of the pancreas in AP, however, their effectiveness has not been confirmed. This investigation aimed to examine the efficacy of ulinastatin, a protease inhibitor, combined with somatostatin analogues in the treatment of AP.

Changes in Vascular Function from Preconception to Postpartum Among Mongolian Women.

Pregnancy is associated with physiological changes to meet the metabolic demands of the growing fetus. To understand adverse pregnancy outcomes it is important to establish vascular changes throughout pregnancy. We examined longitudinal changes in vascular measurements from prepregnancy through postpartum.

Vitamin D Supplements for Prevention of Tuberculosis Infection and Disease.

Background: Vitamin D metabolites support innate immune responses to . Data from phase 3, randomized, controlled trials of vitamin D supplementation to prevent tuberculosis infection are lacking.

Methods: We randomly assigned children who had negative results for infection according to the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube assay (QFT) to receive a weekly oral dose of either 14,000 IU of vitamin D or placebo for 3 years.

Maternal Pregnancy Hormone Concentrations in Countries with Very Low and High Breast Cancer Risk.

Background: Breast cancer rates in Asia are much lower than in Europe and North America. Within Asia, rates are lower in Mongolia than in neighboring countries. Variation in pregnancy exposure to endogenous hormone concentrations may explain the differences, but data are lacking.

Comparison of seasonal serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations among pregnant women in Mongolia and Boston.

Adequate vitamin D status during pregnancy is important for developing fetal bone strength and density and may play a role in preventing a range of skeletal and non-skeletal diseases in both mothers and children. We previously identified Mongolian women of reproductive age to have the lowest vitamin D levels yet observed in any population globally, which renders this population uniquely important in vitamin D research. In this study, we measured the seasonal distribution of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration in 390 healthy third trimester pregnant women living in urban and rural Mongolia using DiaSorin LIAISON and compared this distribution to that of 206 third trimester women living in Boston, USA.

Risk factors for active tuberculosis in 938 QuantiFERON-positive schoolchildren in Mongolia: a community-based cross-sectional study.

Background: There is controversy regarding the relative influence of 'exogenous' versus 'endogenous' factors on the risk of progression from latent tuberculosis infection to active tuberculosis (TB) disease in children.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis to identify risk factors for active tuberculosis in QuantiFERON®-TB Gold (QFT-G)-positive children aged 6-13 years attending 18 schools in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Children underwent clinical and radiological screening for active tuberculosis, and data relating to potential risk factors for disease progression were collected by questionnaire and determination of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) concentrations.