Cognitive benefits of folic acid supplementation during pregnancy track with epigenetic changes at an imprint regulator.

Background: The human ZFP57 gene is a major regulator of imprinted genes, maintaining DNA methylation marks that distinguish parent-of-origin-specific alleles. DNA methylation of the gene itself has shown sensitivity to environmental stimuli, particularly folate status. However, the role of DNA methylation in ZFP57's own regulation has not been fully investigated.

The UHRF1 protein is a key regulator of retrotransposable elements and innate immune response to viral RNA in human cells.

While epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation and histone modification are known to be important for gene suppression, relatively little is still understood about the interplay between these systems. The UHRF1 protein can interact with both DNA methylation and repressive chromatin marks, but its primary function in humans has been unclear. To determine what that was, we first established stable UHRF1 knockdowns (KD) in normal, immortalized human fibroblasts using targeting shRNA, since CRISPR knockouts (KO) were lethal.

Folic acid intervention during pregnancy alters DNA methylation, affecting neural target genes through two distinct mechanisms.

Background: We previously showed that continued folic acid (FA) supplementation beyond the first trimester of pregnancy appears to have beneficial effects on neurocognitive performance in children followed for up to 11 years, but the biological mechanism for this effect has remained unclear. Using samples from our randomized controlled trial of folic acid supplementation in second and third trimester (FASSTT), where significant improvements in cognitive and psychosocial performance were demonstrated in children from mothers supplemented in pregnancy with 400 µg/day FA compared with placebo, we examined methylation patterns from cord blood (CB) using the EPIC array which covers approximately 850,000 cytosine-guanine (CG) sites across the genome. Genes showing significant differences were verified using pyrosequencing and mechanistic approaches used in vitro to determine effects on transcription.

A Simple Tenckhoff Catheter Placement Technique for Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) Using the Bandung Method.

Insertion of Tenckhoff catheters for continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis by nephrologists remains uncommon in most developing countries, including Indonesia. The aim of this study is to describe our experience on a simple technique of Tenckhoff catheter insertion by a nephrologist called the Bandung method. We conducted a retrospective observational study from May 2012 until December 2018 in 230 patients with end-stage renal disease using the Bandung method, a blind percutaneous insertion approach modified from the Seldinger technique.

Incidence of acute kidney injury and use of renal replacement therapy in intensive care unit patients in Indonesia.

Background: Currently, there is limited epidemiology data on acute kidney injury (AKI) in Indonesia. Therefore, we assessed the incidence of AKI and the utilization of renal replacement therapy (RRT) in Indonesia.

Methods: Demographic and clinical data were collected from 952 ICU participants.