Efficacy and safety of rituximab for primary nephrotic syndrome with acute kidney injury: A two-center prospective cohort study.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of a low-dose Rituximab (RTX) regimen driven by peripheral blood B lymphocyte count in the treatment of adult patients with nephrotic syndrome (NS) complicated with acute kidney disease (AKI). We conducted a prospective single-arm study to evaluate the effect of B cells-driven RTX regimen. Patients with NS (MCD, FSGS, MN, IgAN) complicated with AKI fulfilling the inclusion criteria were eligible for this study.

C-X-C Motif Chemokine Ligand 16 Is a Potent Predictor of Outcomes in Dialysis Patients.

Introduction: C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 16 (CXCL16) is an inflammatory marker that has been found to be predictive of outcomes in patients with cardiovascular disease. Our previous work has also demonstrated its relation to cardiac injury in dialysis patients. However, it is yet unclear whether there is an association between CXCL16 and adverse outcomes in dialysis patients.

Central versus ambulatory blood pressure for predicting mortality and cardiovascular events in hemodialysis patients: a multicenter cohort study.

Objective: Studies in the general population suggest that central blood pressure (BP) may be superior to peripheral BP in risk assessment. Although ambulatory brachial BP is recognized as the most reliable BP measurement in the dialysis population, there is no comparison of office central BP with ambulatory BP regarding risk stratification in these patients.

Methods: In a multicenter prospective study of dialysis patients, central BP was measured noninvasively on a midweek nondialysis day, with interdialytic ambulatory BP and predialysis BP also collected.

The unique molecular mechanism of diabetic nephropathy: a bioinformatics analysis of over 250 microarray datasets.

Background/aims: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is one of the main causes of end-stage kidney disease worldwide. Emerging studies have suggested that its pathogenesis is distinct from nondiabetic renal diseases in many aspects. However, it still lacks a comprehensive understanding of the unique molecular mechanism of DN.

Efficacy and Safety of Chinese Herbal Formula Granules in Treating Chronic Kidney Disease Stage 3: A Multicenter, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind Clinical Trial.

Background: It is generally considered that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) therapy postpones the progression of some chronic kidney diseases (CKDs). Chinese medicine herbs are widely applied in TCM therapy. We aimed to evaluate clinical efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal formula granules in patients with CKD stage 3 through a prospective randomized controlled study.

3D Graphene Materials: From Understanding to Design and Synthesis Control.

Carbon materials, with their diverse allotropes, have played significant roles in our daily life and the development of material science. Following 0D C and 1D carbon nanotube, 2D graphene materials, with their distinctively fascinating properties, have been receiving tremendous attention since 2004. To fulfill the efficient utilization of 2D graphene sheets in applications such as energy storage and conversion, electrochemical catalysis, and environmental remediation, 3D structures constructed by graphene sheets have been attempted over the past decade, giving birth to a new generation of graphene materials called 3D graphene materials.

Evaluation of anemia, malnutrition, mineral, and bone disorder for maintenance hemodialysis patients based on bioelectrical impedance vector analysis (BIVA).

Background: ESRD (End-stage renal disease) treatment is a comprehensive medical process and requires numerous serological biochemical tests (SBTs) in diagnosis. To reduce these invasive, expensive, cumbersome, and time-consuming SBTs, there is a need to develop an alternative serological biochemical composition evaluation method. Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is affected by body's chemical and physical components, which might be correlated with serological biochemical composition and can be potentially used to evaluate biochemical composition in hemodialysis patient treatments.

Serum Antibody and Glomerular Antigen of Antiphospholipase A2 Receptor in Chinese Patients with Idiopathic Membranous Nephropathy.

Background: M-type phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R) is the first autoantigen responsible for idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN). However, serum PLA2R antibody (PLA2R-Ab) can be inaccurate in distinguishing between IMN and secondary membranous nephropathy, while renal PLA2R antigen (PLA2R-Ag) emerges as an ancillary diagnostic. The present study is aimed at examining the associations between PLA2R-Ab in sera and PLA2R-Ag in kidneys in IMN patients.

Ultrafast, Low-Cost, and Mass Production of High-Quality Graphene.

Fast, mass, and low-cost production of high-quality graphene, which is alluring, remains a great challenge, even though some approaches have shown potential for mass synthesis of graphene. Very recently a great breakthrough was made by Tour and co-workers (Nature 2020, 577, 647-651): in just a second, easily exfoliated and highly crystalline graphene was produced from abundant carbon-containing species by cost-effective flash Joule heating with a low energy input of 7.2 kJ per gram graphene.

Decorating g-CN with alkalinized TiC MXene for promoted photocatalytic CO reduction performance.

Photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide (CO) under visible light irradiation for producing high-value fuel has attracted tremendous attention in recent years. In this study, titanium carbide MXene (TiC) was used as a noble metal-free co-catalyst by simply mixing graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) and alkalized TiC. The carbon monoxide evolution rate of the optimized composite (5%TCOH-CN) from photocatalytic reduction of CO was 5.

A direct -scheme BiWO/NH-UiO-66 nanocomposite as an efficient visible-light-driven photocatalyst for NO removal.

To explore an efficient photocatalyst for NO pollution, a direct -scheme photocatalytic system is successfully fabricated by coupling BiWO with NH-UiO-66 a simple hydrothermal synthesis technique. The -scheme system promotes the NO photocatalytic oxidation activity with an optimum NO removal rate of 79%, which is 2.7 and 1.

A comparison of clinical features between idiopathic membranous nephropathy patients with and without serum antibody against phospholipase A2 receptor.

Patients with idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN) can be categorized into phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R)-associated and non-PLA2R-associated cases, according to serum PLA2R antibody status. The present study aimed to determine whether clinical features differed between these.A total of 89 patients with IMN were retrospectively recruited for the present study.

Reed-derived fluorescent carbon dots as highly selective probes for detecting Fe and excellent cell-imaging agents.

A kind of highly selective and sensitive fluorescent probe for detecting Fe, carbon dots (CDs), was prepared with renewable reed naturally containing C, N, O, and S elements as a green and eco-friendly carbon source by a simple hydrothermal process. The fluorescence of CDs without purification and surface modification can be quenched by Fe in a wide concentration range of 0 to 362 μmol L (concentration of Fe), with detection limits as low as 0.014 μmol L in 0-50 μmol L.

Basic Research in Diabetic Nephropathy Health Care: A study of the Renoprotective Mechanism of Metformin.

The anti-aging gene klotho is closely related to kidney disease, and an increase in the level of the klotho protein inhibits the progression of various kidney diseases. According to clinical studies, dimethyl-biguanide hydrochloride (DMBG) reduces the urinary protein level in patients with diabetic nephropathy to protect the kidney, but the specific renoprotective mechanism remains unclear. In this study, the application of DMBG partially alleviates the pathological changes in the kidneys of db/db mice, increases the level of the klotho protein in the blood, urine and kidney tissues of the mice, and reduces the levels of the mTOR and p-mTOR proteins.

Association of betaine with blood pressure in dialysis patients.

Mechanisms underlying elevated blood pressure in dialysis patients are complex as a variety of non-traditional factors are involved. We sought to explore the association of circulating betaine, a compound widely distributed in food, with blood pressure in dialysis patients. We used baseline data of an ongoing cohort study involving patients on hemodialysis.

Ultrasensitive Quantitation of Anti-Phospholipase A2 Receptor Antibody as A Diagnostic and Prognostic Indicator of Idiopathic Membranous Nephropathy.

Anti-phospholipase A2 receptor antibody (PLA2R-Ab) is useful for affirming the diagnosis of idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN). Time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay (TRFIA) is highly sensitive and quantitative for measuring serum PLA2R-Ab immunoglobulin (IgG). We measured PLA2R-Ab levels with TRFIA in sera from 172 patients with IMN (n = 69), secondary MN (n = 9), and those with other glomerulonephritis (n = 94) at the time of renal biopsy compared to healthy controls (n = 286).

Response to immunosuppressive therapy in PLAR- associated and non-PLAR- associated idiopathic membranous nephropathy: a retrospective, multicenter cohort study.

Background: According to renal M type phospholipase A receptor (PLAR) immunohistochemistry, idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN) could be categorized into PLAR-associated and non-PLAR-associated IMN. We conducted a retrospective, multicenter cohort study with 91 patients to compare the effect of immunosuppressive therapy between PLAR-associated and non-PLAR-associated IMN patients.

Methods: A total of 91 biopsy-proven IMN patients from Huashan hospital and People's Hospital of Wuxi in past 5 years were collected into this study.

Interaction of Soluble CXC Ligand 16 and Cardiac Injury Markers in Hemodialysis Patients.

Background: Recent data suggest that there is a pathogenic role for CXC ligand 16 (CXCL16) in cardiovascular diseases. Little is known about circulating CXCL16 in patients with kidney dysfunction. We explored the relationships of plasma CXCL16 with cardiac injury markers in a group of dialysis patients.

Association of adipokines with blood pressure, arterial elasticity and cardiac markers in dialysis patients: cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from a cohort study.

Background: Adipokines are a set of cytokines secreted by white adipose tissue that have been suggested to be involved in the development of cardiovascular diseases. We aimed to evaluate the cross-sectional associations of a panel of representative adipokines with cardiovascular measures in a cohort of hemodialysis patients.

Methods: We measured plasma adiponectin, resistin, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), leptin, monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1) and adipsin levels in 366 dialysis patients and 60 healthy controls.

Ambulatory arterial stiffness index and its role in assessing arterial stiffness in dialysis patients.

Objective: Ambulatory arterial stiffness index (AASI) is a parameter derived from ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) readings. It is calculated as 1 minus the linear slope of DBP on SBP. We tested its value in assessing arterial stiffness in dialysis patients.

A novel Time-resolved Fluoroimmunoassay for the quantitative detection of Antibodies against the Phospholipase A2 Receptor.

A highly sensitive time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay (TRFIA) was developed to quantify serum antibodies against the phospholipase A2 receptor (anti-PLA2R-IgG) for differential diagnosis of membranous nephropathy. Recombinant PLA2R (rPLA2R) was coated onto 96-well plates as a capture. A goat-anti-human IgG tracer was prepared with europium-chelate for detection.

Renal Phospholipase A2 Receptor and the Clinical Features of Idiopathic Membranous Nephropathy.

Background: According to the renal phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R) immunohistochemistry, idiopathic membranous nephropathy (iMN) could be categorized into PLA2R-associated and non-PLA2R-associated iMN. This study aimed to examine whether the non-PLA2R-associated iMN had any difference in clinical features compared with PLA2R-associated iMN.

Methods: A total of 231 adult patients diagnosed as iMN were recruited to this retrospective study.

Masked uncontrolled hypertension in patients on maintenance hemodialysis.

Masked uncontrolled hypertension (MUCH) has been proven to be associated with increased cardiovascular risk in the general population. We performed the current analysis to determine its prevalence in dialysis patients and its association with pulse wave velocity (PWV). From 368 participants of another cohort study, we selected 145 subjects with controlled predialysis blood pressure (BP).