Corn oligopeptides inhibit Akt/NF-κB signaling pathway and inflammatory factors to ameliorate CCl -induced hepatic fibrosis in mice.

In this study, the effect of corn oligopeptides (COPs) with liver protection activity on mice with hepatic fibrosis (HF) induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl ) was studied. It was proved that COPs can ameliorate the liver injury and inflammation caused by CCl by histopathology and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in mice. The expression of Akt/NF-κB inflammatory pathway was determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blotting (WB).

Caloric restriction inhibits renal artery ageing by reducing endothelin-1 expression.

Background: The renal artery plays a central role in renal perfusion and is critical for proper renal function. Ageing is an independent risk factor for both impaired renal function and vascular disorders, and associated with an increase in the expression of the vasoconstrictor endothelin-1 (ET-1), and caloric restriction (CR) without malnutrition has been shown to be an effective inhibitor of renal dysfunction induced by ageing. The objective of this study was to determine whether CR-mediated alleviation of renal dysfunction is mediated by ET-1 expression.

Effect of Shexiang Baoxin Pill () in Alleviating Early Hypertensive Renal Injury in Rats.

Objective: To investigate the effect of Shexiang Baoxin Pill (, SBP) on early hypertensive renal injury in rats and to explore the possible mechanism.

Methods: Twelve-week-old spontaneous hypertensive rats (SHRs) with high-salt diet (dietary containing 8% NaCl) were randomized into the SBP group [40 mg/(kg·d)], losartan potassium group [20 mg/(kg·d)] and saline group by stratified random sampling method, 12 in each group. Blood pressure and urea albumin creatinine ratio were measured.

[Isolation and Identification of Rat Kidney Stem Cells].

Objective: To isolate and steadily culture kidney stem cells (KSCs) from rat renal papilla, and to identify the biological characteristics of KSCs.

Methods: KSCs were isolated from the tips of renal papilla in 4 weeks-old Sprague-Dawley rats. The morphology of KSCs was observed under inversion microscope, and the phenotye characteristics of kSCs were identified through flow cytometry and immunofluorescence.

Application of continuous renal replacement therapy for acute kidney injury in elderly patients.

This study aims to analyze the factors that affect the prognosis of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) in elderly patients with acute kidney injury (AKI). Data obtained from 41 elderly patients with AKI who underwent CRRT in our department between January 2001 and December 2010 was retrospectively evaluated in this study. The enrolled patients were 80 to 100 years old, with a mortality of 60.

[Low testosterone levels are inversely correlated with carotid artery plaque formation in elderly women].

Objective: To study the relationship between serum testosterone levels and the plaque formation of the carotid artery in a population-based cohort of independently living healthy women above 60 years of age.

Methods: Analysis of the healthy elders from a population-based cohort study in 9 communities of Beijing. Carotid intima-media thickness and atherosclerotic plaques were determined ultrasonographically.

[Risk factors and short-term prognosis of acute kidney injury in elderly patients].

Objective: To explore the risk factors and short-term outcomes of acute kidney injury (AKI) in elderly patients.

Methods: A total of 232 elderly AKI patients at Chinese PLA General Hospital from June 2008 to December 2009 were enrolled. They were divided into two groups according to their outcomes at 28 days and at 29 days to 3 months after AKI respectively.

[Effects of kidney stem cells on injure-recovery of human renal tubular epithelial cells].

Objective: To investigate the protective effects and the mechanism of kidney stem cells (KSC) on the injured tubular epithelial cells.

Methods: KSC were isolated from rat renal papilla. The human kidney epithelial cells (HKC) injury model was induced with 0.

[Stem cells and diabetic nephropathy].

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is one of the most common microvascular complications of diabetic mellitus. Its treatment by now is mainly focused on the suppression of the renin-angiotonin system and the control of relative risk factors such as hypertension, hyperglycemia and so on, whose effectiveness is disappointed. Stem cells can be found in almost all organs and tissues, the main functional characteristics of stem cells are their capacity for self-renewal, the differentiation into several other cell types, and their immunomodulatory ability.

[Long-term follow-up of elderly patients with atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis treated by percutaneous transluminal angioplasty with stent implantation].

Objective: To evaluate the long-term effects of percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty with stent (PTRAS) on hypertension and renal function in elderly patients with atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (ARAS).

Methods: The data of elderly ARAS patients as diagnosed by angiography (stenosis ≥ 70%) were retrospectively collected. PTRAS was performed in 65 patients.

[The effects of atorvastatin on aging kidney].

Objective: To evaluate whether taking atorvastatin for long time has positive effects on age-related renal impairment.

Methods: 20-month-age normal female Wistar rats were divided into three groups (n = 9). First group were fed atorvastatin 10 mg/(kg x d).

Glomerular aging in females is a multi-stage reversible process mediated by phenotypic changes in progenitors.

The glomeruli of postmenopausal C57BL6 mice, and age-matched males, show progressive hypertrophy and glomerulosclerosis. We asked whether this was a multistage process, was due to alterations in glomerular progenitors, and was reversible in female mice. Using cross bone marrow transplants (BMT) between young and old females, we found that BMT delivered a phenotype that was donor age-specific.

The glomerulosclerosis of aging in females: contribution of the proinflammatory mesangial cell phenotype to macrophage infiltration.

Age-associated renal changes may be an important cause of renal failure. We recently found that aged female B6 mice developed progressive glomerular lesions. This was associated with macrophage infiltration, a frequent finding in glomerulosclerosis.

Development of albuminuria and glomerular lesions in normoglycemic B6 recipients of db/db mice bone marrow: the role of mesangial cell progenitors.

The pathologic hallmarks of diabetic nephropathy are excess mesangial extracellular matrix (ECM) and mesangial cell proliferation. We previously showed that mesangial cell phenotypic changes play an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy. We concluded that phenotypic changes were present in bone marrow (BM)-derived mesangial cell progenitors, as transplantation of BM from db/db mice, a model of type 2 diabetic nephropathy, transferred the db genotype and a nephropathy phenotype to naive B6 mice recipients.