Cross-Generational Impact of Maternal Exposure to Low Level of PM2.5 on Kidney Health.

Introduction: Inhaled fine and ultrafine particulate matter may affect organs other than the lung, including the kidney. Recent studies have consistently shown the possibility of air pollution in highly polluted countries to be nephrotoxic. However, in countries like Australia, where air quality generally adheres to or remains below the WHO standards, the subtle yet consequential impacts of chronic exposure to seemingly safe levels of traffic PM2.

Diet and Disease Development: Present and Future.

The present Editorial provides an overview of the Special Issue "Diet and Disease Development" recently published in [...

Diet and Disease Development: Mechanisms, Prevention, and Treatment.

The overall aims of this Special Issue "Diet and Disease Development: Mechanisms, Prevention and Treatment" are to describe and emphasise the importance of diet in disease development; understand the mechanism(s) whereby an unhealthy diet can induce various diseases; examine the potential effects of natural compounds or extracts on disease prevention or treatment; and determine whether nutrients and their metabolites can be used as biomarkers to diagnose certain diseases [...

Evaluation of urinary volatile organic compounds as a novel metabolomic biomarker to assess chronic kidney disease progression.

Background: There is a need to develop accurate and reliable non-invasive methods to evaluate chronic kidney disease (CKD) status and assess disease progression. Given it is recognized that dysregulation in metabolic pathways occur from early CKD, there is a basis in utilizing metabolomic biomarkers to monitor CKD progression. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), a form of metabolomic biomarker, are gaseous products of metabolic processes in organisms which are typically released with greater abundance in disease conditions when there is dysregulation in metabolism.

Chronic maternal exposure to low-dose PM impacts cognitive outcomes in a sex-dependent manner.

There is no safe level of air pollution for human health. Traffic-related particulate matter (PM) is a major in-utero toxin, mechanisms of action of which are not fully understood. BALB/c dams were exposed to an Australian level of traffic PM (5 µg/mouse/day, intranasal, 6 weeks before mating, during gestation and lactation).

Extraction of high quality and high yield RNA from frozen EDTA blood.

Peripheral blood RNA profiling, which can reveal systemic changes in gene expression and immune responses to disease onset and progression, is a powerful tool for diagnosis and biomarker discovery. This technique usually requires high quality RNA, which is only obtainable from fresh blood, or frozen blood that has been collected in special RNA-stabilisation systems. The current study aimed to develop a novel protocol to extract high quality RNA from frozen blood that had been collected in the conventional EDTA tubes.

Maternal Weight Intervention in the Perinatal Period Improves Liver Health in the Offspring of Mothers with Obesity.

Early-life exposure to maternal obesity predisposes offspring to metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD). This study aimed to determine if peripartum weight loss, either through dietary intervention or pharmacological intervention, improved adverse liver health outcomes in the offspring of mothers with obesity. C57Bl/6 dams were fed a chow diet or a high-fat diet (HFD) for 8 weeks.

Nutrition and Developmental Origins of Kidney Disease.

The developmental programming hypothesis proposes that adverse environmental insults during critical developmental periods increase the risk of diseases later in life. The kidneys are deemed susceptible to such a process, although the exact mechanisms remain elusive. Many factors have been reported to contribute to the developmental origin of chronic kidney diseases (CKD), among which peri-gestational nutrition has a central role, affecting kidney development and metabolism.

Effect of E-Vaping on Kidney Health in Mice Consuming a High-Fat Diet.

High-fat diet (HFD) consumption and tobacco smoking are risk factors for chronic kidney disease. E-cigarettes have gained significant popularity among younger populations worldwide, especially among overweight individuals. It is unclear whether vaping interacts with HFD consumption to impact renal health.

Diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for tubulointerstitial fibrosis.

Renal fibrosis is the final common pathophysiological pathway in chronic kidney disease (CKD) regardless of the underlying cause of kidney injury. Tubulointerstitial fibrosis (TIF) is considered to be the key pathological predictor of CKD progression. Currently, the gold-standard tool to identify TIF is kidney biopsy, an invasive method that carries risks.

E-Cigarette Vapour Alters High-Fat Diet-Induced Systemic Inflammatory Responses but Has No Effect on High-Fat Diet-Induced Changes in Gut Microbiota.

Background: The gut microbiome, which can be altered by different diets or smoking, has been implicated in the pathogenesis of lung conditions. E-cigarette vaping is now recognised to have detrimental health effects, with several of these being similar to cigarette smoking. However, whether e-cigarettes can alter high-fat diet (HFD)-induced systemic effects and gut microbiota is unknown.

Deciphering the Kidney Matrisome: Identification and Quantification of Renal Extracellular Matrix Proteins in Healthy Mice.

Precise characterization of a tissue's extracellular matrix (ECM) protein composition (matrisome) is essential for biomedicine. However, ECM protein extraction that requires organ-specific optimization is still a major limiting factor in matrisome studies. In particular, the matrisome of mouse kidneys is still understudied, despite mouse models being crucial for renal research.

Investigating the Regulatory Process, Safety, Efficacy and Product Transparency for Nutraceuticals in the USA, Europe and Australia.

Increased numbers of patients with chronic conditions use nutraceuticals or food-based therapeutics. However, to date, there is no global consensus on the regulatory processes for nutraceuticals. With the increased use, issues of quality and safety have also arisen.

Sex-Dependent Responses to Maternal Exposure to PM in the Offspring.

: Particulate matter (PM) with a diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM) can cross the blood-placental barrier causing adverse foetal outcomes. However, the impact of maternal exposure to low-levels of PM on liver health and the metabolic profile is unclear.

Unravelling the Therapeutic Potential of Nano-Delivered Functional Foods in Chronic Respiratory Diseases.

Chronic inflammation of the respiratory tract is one of the most concerning public health issues, as it can lead to chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs), some of which are more detrimental than others. Chronic respiratory diseases include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, lung cancer, and pulmonary fibrosis. The conventional drug therapies for the management and treatment of CRDs only address the symptoms and fail to reverse or recover the chronic-inflammation-mediated structural and functional damage of the respiratory tract.

Exfoliated Kidney Cells from Urine for Early Diagnosis and Prognostication of CKD: The Way of the Future?

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global health issue, affecting more than 10% of the worldwide population. The current approach for formal diagnosis and prognostication of CKD typically relies on non-invasive serum and urine biomarkers such as serum creatinine and albuminuria. However, histological evidence of tubulointerstitial fibrosis is the 'gold standard' marker of the likelihood of disease progression.

and extracts inhibited AGE-mediated RAGE expression, ROS generation, and inflammation in THP-1 cells.

Unlabelled: Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) can induce inflammatory signaling pathways through the receptor for AGEs (RAGE). Targeting RAGE could be a therapeutic strategy for treating chronic inflammation mediated by the AGE-RAGE axis. This study aimed to investigate the effects of and extracts on AGE-RAGE signaling and AGE-mediated oxidative stress and inflammation in THP-1 cells.

Inhaled or Ingested, Which Is Worse, E-Vaping or High-Fat Diet?

Long term e-cigarette vaping induces inflammation, which is largely nicotine independent. High-fat diet (HFD) consumption is anoter cause of systemic low-grade inflammation. The likelihood of using e-cigarettes as a weight control strategy is concomitant with the increase in obesity.

Low-dose hydralazine reduces albuminuria and glomerulosclerosis in a mouse model of obesity-related chronic kidney disease.

Aim: To determine, using a mouse model of obesity, whether low-dose hydralazine prevents obesity-related chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Methods: From 8 weeks of age, male C57BL/6 mice received a high-fat diet (HFD) or chow, with or without low-dose hydralazine (25 mg/L) in drinking water, for 24 weeks. Biometric and metabolic variables, renal function and structural changes, renal global DNA methylation, DNA methylation profile and markers of renal fibrosis, injury, inflammation and oxidative stress were assessed.

Diet Modification before or during Pregnancy on Maternal and Foetal Outcomes in Rodent Models of Maternal Obesity.

The obesity epidemic has serious implications for women of reproductive age; its rising incidence is associated not just with health implications for the mother but also has transgenerational ramifications for the offspring. Increased incidence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and kidney disease are seen in both the mothers and the offspring. Animal models, such as rodent studies, are fundamental to studying maternal obesity and its impact on maternal and offspring health, as human studies lack rigorous controlled experimental design.

Effects of air pollution on human health - Mechanistic evidence suggested by in vitro and in vivo modelling.

Airborne particulate matter (PM) comprises both solid and liquid particles, including carbon, sulphates, nitrate, and toxic heavy metals, which can induce oxidative stress and inflammation after inhalation. These changes occur both in the lung and systemically, due to the ability of the small-sized PM (i.e.

Blood DNA Methylation Predicts Diabetic Kidney Disease Progression in High Fat Diet-Fed Mice.

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) progresses at different rates among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). Early identification of patients with a higher risk of DKD progression is essential to improve prognosis. Epigenetic modifications, particularly DNA methylation, have been independently implicated in T2D and chronic kidney disease.

Metabolite-based dietary supplementation in human type 1 diabetes is associated with microbiota and immune modulation.

Background: Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) produced by the gut microbiota have beneficial anti-inflammatory and gut homeostasis effects and prevent type 1 diabetes (T1D) in mice. Reduced SCFA production indicates a loss of beneficial bacteria, commonly associated with chronic autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, including T1D and type 2 diabetes. Here, we addressed whether a metabolite-based dietary supplement has an impact on humans with T1D.

Correction: A Cationic-Independent Mannose 6-Phosphate Receptor Inhibitor (PXS64) Ameliorates Kidney Fibrosis by Inhibiting Activation of Transforming Growth Factor-β1.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Aberrant DNA Methylation Mediates the Transgenerational Risk of Metabolic and Chronic Disease Due to Maternal Obesity and Overnutrition.

Maternal obesity is a rapidly evolving universal epidemic leading to acute and long-term medical and obstetric health issues, including increased maternal risks of gestational diabetes, hypertension and pre-eclampsia, and the future risks for offspring's predisposition to metabolic diseases. Epigenetic modification, in particular DNA methylation, represents a mechanism whereby environmental effects impact on the phenotypic expression of human disease. Maternal obesity or overnutrition contributes to the alterations in DNA methylation during early life which, through fetal programming, can predispose the offspring to many metabolic and chronic diseases, such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, obesity, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease.