Roxadustat Versus Erythropoietin: The Comparison of Efficacy in Reversing Ventricular Remodeling in Dialysis Patients with Anaemia.

Renal anaemia and left ventricular hypertrophy are the main complications of chronic kidney disease and are shared among dialysis patients. This retrospective study aimed to compare the efficacies of the hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor roxadustat and recombinant human erythropoietin in reversing ventricular remodeling in dialysis patients with renal anaemia. A total of 204 participants underwent baseline examinations, including echocardiograms and laboratory tests, before being administered either treatment for at least 24 weeks from January 2018 to October 2021, after which follow-up examinations were conducted at 6 months.

The ratio of neutrophils to lymphocytes effectively predicts clinical outcomes in idiopathic membranous nephropathy.

Background: Systemic inflammatory indicators are important in the prognoses of various diseases. Such indicators, including the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), can be meaningful in predicting the clinical outcome in patients diagnosed with idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN).

Materials And Methods: 112 IMN patients diagnosed by renal biopsy were recruited retrospectively.

Activation of acetyl-CoA synthetase 2 mediates kidney injury in diabetic nephropathy.

Albuminuria and podocyte injury are the key cellular events in the progression of diabetic nephropathy (DN). Acetyl-CoA synthetase 2 (ACSS2) is a nucleocytosolic enzyme responsible for the regulation of metabolic homeostasis in mammalian cells. This study aimed to investigate the possible roles of ACSS2 in kidney injury in DN.

Two-dimensional displacement estimation of one-dimensional laser speckle images for detection of acoustic vibration.

Detection and recovery of audio signals using optical methods is an appealing topic. Observing the movement of secondary speckle patterns is a convenient method for such a purpose. In order to have less computational cost and faster processing, one-dimensional laser speckle images are captured by an imaging device, while it sacrifices the ability to detect speckle movement along one axis.

Deposition of platelet-derived microparticles in podocytes contributes to diabetic nephropathy.

Background: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease in the developed world. Podocyte injury is a critical cellular event involved in the progression of DN. Our previous studies demonstrated that platelet-derived microparticles (PMPs) mediated endothelial injury in diabetic rats.

Using Machine Learning to Evaluate the Role of Microinflammation in Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease.

Background: Lipid metabolism disorder, as one major complication in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), is tied to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Traditional lipid-lowering statins have been found to have limited benefit for the final CVD outcome of CKD patients. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of microinflammation on CVD in statin-treated CKD patients.

GPR43 activation-mediated lipotoxicity contributes to podocyte injury in diabetic nephropathy by modulating the ERK/EGR1 pathway.

G-protein-coupled receptor 43 (GPR43) is a posttranscriptional regulator involved in cholesterol metabolism. This study aimed to investigate the possible roles of GPR43 activation in podocyte lipotoxicity in diabetic nephropathy (DN) and explore the potential mechanisms. The experiments were conducted by using diabetic GPR43-knockout mice and a podocyte cell culture model.

GPR43 deficiency protects against podocyte insulin resistance in diabetic nephropathy through the restoration of AMPKα activity.

Albuminuria is an early clinical feature in the progression of diabetic nephropathy (DN). Podocyte insulin resistance is a main cause of podocyte injury, playing crucial roles by contributing to albuminuria in early DN. G protein-coupled receptor 43 (GPR43) is a metabolite sensor modulating the cell signalling pathways to maintain metabolic homeostasis.

Methotrexate-loaded biodegradable polymeric micelles for lymphoma therapy.

Drug resistance and recurrence are the main clinical challenges in chemotherapy of lymphoma. Methotrexate (MTX), especially high dose MTX (HD MTX), is extensively used to treat some aggressive subtypes of lymphoma, such as Burkitt's lymphoma, in order to overcome drug resistance. But poor solubility of the free drug and severe side effects of HD MTX limit its clinical application.

Low prevalence of antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii in dairy cattle from China's central region.

Background: Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoan that can infect humans and other animals, including cattle. Cattle are one of the world's main sources of meat, and people who consume raw or undercooked meat and milk of cattle infected with T. gondii can become infected.

Real-Time Vital Mineralization Detection and Quantification during In Vitro Osteoblast Differentiation.

Background: In vitro studies of osteoblasts traditionally use Alizarin Red as a golden standard for the detection and quantification of mineralization, which is a marker of osteoblast differentiation. However, this method presents a number of drawbacks, including the need to fix cells, which prevents additional measurements. Years ago, Calcein Green was proposed as an alternative to Alizarin Red, with the advantage to be directly detectable in live cells.

PP2A Regulatory Subunit B55γ is a Gatekeeper of Osteoblast Maturation and Lineage Maintenance.

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) mediate skeletal remodeling by differentiating into osteoblasts. However, this remodeling is impaired with aging as well as following long-term glucocorticoid treatment, resulting in osteoporosis. In this study, we report a novel factor of osteoblast differentiation-PP2A regulatory subunit B55γ.

Standard-dose versus low-dose azathioprine in the treatment of Crohn's disease: A prospective randomized study.

Objective: Azathioprine (AZA) is widely used to treat Crohn's disease (CD) with a recommended dose of 2-2.5 mg/kg per day for Westerners. Asian patients are suggested to take a lower dose.

Activity limitation due to a fear of falling in older adults with eye disease.

Purpose: To examine whether patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma, or Fuchs corneal dystrophy report limiting their activity due to a fear of falling as compared with a control group of older adults with good vision.

Methods: We recruited 345 patients (93 with AMD, 57 with Fuchs, 98 with glaucoma, and 97 controls) from the ophthalmology clinics of Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital (Montreal, Canada) to participate in a cross-sectional study from September 2009 until July 2012. Control patients who had normal visual acuity and visual field were recruited from the same clinics.

Bioassay-guided isolation of a novel protein with antitumor activity from Trachyrhamphus serratus (Syngnathidae).

A novel protein with antitumor activity, Hailongin, was purified from the aqueous extract of the whole body of Trachyrhamphus serratus, which is commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine, by bioassay-guided fractionation. Hailongin exhibited strong inhibition of proliferation of the tested human cell lines, such as A549, HeLa, LoVo and CCRF-CEM. The IC(50) values of Hailongin ranged from 5.

Application of molecular markers in predicting production quality of cultivated Cistanche deserticola.

We developed a set of molecular markers in Cistanche deserticola Y. C. MA to evaluate the production quality of cultivated C.

Induction of circadian rhythm in cultured human mesenchymal stem cells by serum shock and cAMP analogs in vitro.

Circadian clocks have been shown to operate developmentally in mouse and human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in vivo, but little is known about their possible oscillations in vitro. Here, we show that repeated circadian oscillations could be induced in both cultured bone marrow-derived mesenchymal- and adipose-derived stem cells (MSCs and ASCs, respectively) by serum shock. In particular, the novel finding of rhythmic clock gene expression induced by cAMP analogs showed similarities as well as differences to serum-induced oscillations.

Identification of Cistanche species by chemical and inter-simple sequence repeat fingerprinting.

Herba Cistanches is a common traditional Chinese medicine that has been used to reinforce the vital function of kidney and induce laxation for more than two thousands years. Four Cistanche species were found as Herba Cistanches in China herbal markets, including C. deserticola, C.

Chaos synchronization communication using extremely unsymmetrical bidirectional injections.

Chaos synchronization and message transmission between two semiconductor lasers with extremely unsymmetrical bidirectional injections (EUBIs) are discussed. By using EUBIs, synchronization is realized through injection locking. Numerical results show that if the laser subjected to strong injection serves as the receiver, chaos pass filtering (CPF) of the system is similar to that of unidirectional coupled systems.

Do cross-modal projections always result in multisensory integration?

Convergence of afferents from different sensory modalities has generally been thought to produce bimodal (and trimodal) neurons (i.e., exhibit suprathreshold excitation to more than 1 sensory modality).