NFAT inhibitor 11R-VIVIT ameliorates mouse renal fibrosis after ischemia-reperfusion-induced acute kidney injury.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) with maladaptive tubular repair leads to renal fibrosis and progresses to chronic kidney disease (CKD). At present, there is no curative drug to interrupt AKI-to-CKD progression. The nuclear factor of the activated T cell (NFAT) family was initially identified as a transcription factor expressed in most immune cells and involved in the transcription of cytokine genes and other genes critical for the immune response.

High glucose induces Drp1-mediated mitochondrial fission via the Orai1 calcium channel to participate in diabetic cardiomyocyte hypertrophy.

Mitochondrial dysfunction and impaired Ca handling are involved in the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM). Dynamic relative protein 1 (Drp1) regulates mitochondrial fission by changing its level of phosphorylation, and the Orai1 (Ca release-activated calcium channel protein 1) calcium channel is important for the increase in Ca entry into cardiomyocytes. We aimed to explore the mechanism of Drp1 and Orai1 in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy caused by high glucose (HG).

How to carry out monthly blood flow surveillance of fistula in large-scale hemodialysis units: A cross-sectional study.

Background: The important effect of regular blood flow surveillance on arteriovenous fistula maintenance is emphasized. The ultrasonic dilution technique for blood flow surveillance can be performed during hemodialysis, but there are some limitations. Blood flow is traditionally measured by duplex Doppler ultrasound during the nondialysis period.

It is time to implement prepump arterial pressure monitoring during hemodialysis: A retrospective multicenter study.

Introduction: Prepump arterial pressure (Pa) indicates the ease or difficulty with which the blood pump can draw blood from vascular access (inflow) during hemodialysis. The absolute prepump arterial pressure to blood pump speed (Qb) ratio (|Pa/Qb|) may reflect the dysfunction of other vascular accesses. There is no consensus on the impact of |Pa/Qb| on arteriovenous fistula dysfunction.

Can the fistula arm be used to lift heavy items? Six-pound dumbbells versus handgrip exercise in a 6-month follow-up secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.

Introduction: Patients with arteriovenous fistulas are advised to avoid carrying heavy objects draped over the fistula arm. Awareness gradually leads to overprotection and a reduction in the use of the fistula arm. However, restricting motion in the fistula arm leads to decreased quality of life and diminished muscle strength.

[Effects of C-reactive protein on the expression of transforming growth factor β1 and receptors on human renal tubular epithelial cells].

Objective: To explore the effect of C-reactive protein (CRP) on the expression of Fcγ receptors in human renal tubular epithelial cells and determine the role of Fcγ receptors in CRP-induced expression of transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1).

Methods: Human renal tubular epithelial cells (HK-2) were cultured and stimulated with recombinant human CRP. The mRNA expression of Fcγ receptors, including FcγRI (CD64), FcγRIIa (CD32a) and FcγRIII (CD16), was detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

[The sensitivity and accuracy of RIFLE and AKIN criteria for acute kidney injury diagnosis in intensive care unit patients].

Objective: To evaluate the sensitivity/accuracy of 2 different acute kidney injury (AKI) diagnosis/classification criteria, the RIFLE (risk, injury, failure, loss of kidney function, end-stage kidney disease) and the acute kidney injury network (AKIN), for patients in intensive care unit (ICU).

Methods: Clinical data were collected from all adult patients admitted to the Department of Intensive Medicine in Guangdong General Hospital between October 2009 and July 2010, and AKI cases were identified/classified using RIFLE and AKIN criteria separately, for statistical evaluation of their diagnostic sensitivity, and accuracy in hospital mortality prediction.

Results: In all 524 patients evaluated, AKI were identified by RIFLE criteria in 95 of them, while by AKIN, 135.

[Cardiovascular risk profile in systemic lupus erythematosus: a cross-sectional study of 879 patients].

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and estimate the associated risk factors for CVD.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 879 SLE patients treated in our hospital between March, 2006 and March, 2011. The demographic data and the clinical data including SLE duration, therapeutic regimen, renal pathological data, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI), and associated biochemical parameters were analyzed.

[Evaluation of continuous venous-venous hemofiltration combined with coupled plasma filtration adsorption for treatment of systemic inflammation response syndrome with acute renal failure].

Objective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of continuous venous-venous hemofiltration (CVVH) combined with coupled plasma filtration adsorption (CPFA) in the management of systemic inflammation response syndrome (SIRS) complicated by acute renal failure (ARF).

Methods: Thirty patients with SIRS complicated by ARF (including 25 with severe acute pancreatitis, 2 with colonic perforation with infection, and 3 with acute infective endocarditis) were randomly divided into CVVH plus CPFA group (n=14) and CVVH alone group (n=16). The APACHE II score, mean arterial pressure, PaO2/FiO2, TNF-alpha and IL-10 were detected prior to or after the intervention.

[Low serum fetuin A is a risk factor of coronary artery calcification in patients starting hemodialysis].

Objective: To examine the relationship between reduction of serum fetuin A and coronary artery calcification (CAC) in patients starting hemodialysis.

Methods: Twenty-nine patients on chronic hemodialysis (duration of hemodialysis less than 6 months) were enrolled in this study. Serum fetuin A and such potential CAC-related risk factors as C-reactive protein (CRP), Ca, P, iPTH, body mass index (BMI) were examined.

Combination of urinary kidney injury molecule-1 and interleukin-18 as early biomarker for the diagnosis and progressive assessment of acute kidney injury following cardiopulmonary bypass surgery: a prospective nested case-control study.

The aim of this nested case-control study was to assess the combined use of urinary kidney injury molecule (KIM)-1 and interleukin (IL)-18 for acute kidney injury (AKI) after cardiopulmonary bypass surgery (CPB). From a cohort of 122 subjects who underwent CPB, serial urinary KIM-1 and IL-18 concentrations were determined in 30 AKI and 92 non-AKI patients. An increased level of urinary KIM-1 was associated with the occurrence of AKI, whereas an increased level of IL-18 was related to progressive AKI.

Podocyte injury is suppressed by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D via modulation of transforming growth factor-beta 1/bone morphogenetic protein-7 signalling in puromycin aminonucleoside nephropathy rats.

1. Accumulating evidence suggests that vitamin D and its analogues are renoprotective. However, the precise mechanisms and the molecular targets by which active vitamin D exerts its beneficial effects remain obscure.

[Prospective study of cystatin C for diagnosis of acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery].

Objective: To prospectively study the value of cystatin C in diagnosis of acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients after cardiac surgery.

Methods: A total of 132 patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass were enrolled in this prospectively study. From each patient, blood samples were collected everyday before and after operation to detect the serum creatinine (Scr) and cystatin C levels by enzymatic method and particle-enhanced turbidimetric immunoassay (PETIA), respectively, and the glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was estimated using MDRD equation.

[Risk factors of hypertension in IgA nephropathy].

Objective: To explore the risk factors of hypertension in patients with IgA nephropathy in South China.

Methods: The clinical and renal pathological data of 280 primary IgA nephropathy patients diagnosed by biopsy were analyzed to extinguish the risk factors of hypertension.

Results: A total of 96 patients were suffered with hypertension (34.

[Efficacy and safety of coupled plasma filtration adsorption combined with continuous veno-venous hemofiltration for multiple organ dysfunction syndrome patients with acute liver failure].

Objective: To evaluate efficacy and safety of coupled plasma filtration adsorption (CPFA) combined with continuous veno-venous hemofiltration (CVVH) for the treatment of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) patients with acute liver failure (ALF), and to evaluate the effect of CPFA plus CVVF on inflammatory mediators in these patients.

Methods: A total of 38 cases of 11 MODS patients with ALF (male 6, female 5) were treated with CPFA plus CVVH, and the following clinical indicators including changes in mean arterial pressure (MAP), oxygen index (PaO(2)/FiO(2)), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), IL-6, IL-8, biochemical parameters of liver and kidney function, parameters of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) score, and acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) score were determined before and after the treatment. The degree of improvement in clinical symptoms, feasibility, tolerance toward CPFA plus CVVH, therapy-related adverse reactions and security were simultaneously evaluated.