Rosuvastatin calcium with metformin improves diabetic renal injury, but the mechanism is not yet fully understood.

To explore the mechanism of action of rosuvastatin calcium with metformin improving renal injury in a rat model of streptozotocin (STZ) -induced type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) .

Forty clean grade Wistar rats were equally randomized into a control group (group C) , a metformin group (group M) , a metformin+low-dose rosuvastatin calcium group (group M+RL) , and a metformin+high-dose rosuvastatin calcium group (group M+RH) from July to October 2021. T2DM model was established for three groups (except for group C) using intraperitoneal injection of STZ. Then drug was administered by intragastric administration to the groups as follows: equal amount of 0.9% sodium chloride solution for group C, metformin (200 mg·kg^-1·d^-1) for group M, metformin (200 mg·kg^-1·d^-1) suspension+rosuvastatin calcium (0.42 mg·kg^-1·d^-1) for group M+RL, and metformin (200 mg·kg^-1·d^-1) suspension+rosuvastatin calcium (0.83 mg·kg^-1·d^-1) for group M+RH. Rats were sacrificed after 6 weeks of intervention, while their blood and kidney tissues were collected. The extent of injury of kidney tissues was observed under light microscope after being stained with H&E, and was analyzed using Image-Pro Plus 6.0 after being stained with periodic-acid schiff, and Masson's trichrome, respectively. The expression of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) mRNA in the renal tissue was measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) , and the protein levels of GLUT4 were detected by Western-blotting.

Compared with group C, the glomerulus of rats in other three groups showed significant structural damage, accompanied by inflammatory cell infiltration and interstitial fibrosis. Moreover, mRNA expression levels of GLUT4 in these groups were significantly lowered (P<0.05) . Furthermore, the protein levels of GLUT4 in groups M and M+RL were lowered notably (P<0.05) . The mRNA and protein expression levels of GLUT4 in group M+RL or M+RH were higher than those of group M (P<0.05) . In addition, the mRNA and protein expression levels of GLUT4 in M+RH group were higher than those in M+RL group (P<0.05) .

Rosuvastatin calcium with metformin could reduce inflammatory cell infiltration in glomerular and tubular, alleviate glomerular basement membrane thickening and tubular vacuolar degeneration, delay the interstitial fibrosis development, and increase GLUT4 mRNA and GLUT4 protein expression in STZ-induced T2DM rats. Moreover, higher dose of rosuvastatin calcium showed better effect. Our study indicated that rosuvastatin calcium combined with metformin may achieve a renoprotective effect by regulating the expression of GLUT4 mRNA and protein in T2DM rats, and this effect may be enhanced with the increase in the dose of rosuvastatin calcium.

The global population disease burden report shows that atrial fibrillation (AF) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) have emerged as the fast-growing causes of death in the last 20 years. The concept of cardiorenal syndrome suggests that AF may increase the risk of new-onset CKD, however, there are few studies related to the increased risk of new-onset CKD with AF at home and abroad, and the interaction with age remains unclear atpresent.

To investigate whether AF increases the risk of new-onset CKD in northern Chinese population.

The population who attended a comprehensive health check-up for the employees of Kailuan Group in Hebei Province from 2006 to 2010 were selected as study subjects. The general information and laboratory test results of the study subjects were collected, and the study subjects were followed up with the final follow-up date of 2020-12-31 and the end point of new-onset CKD. The included patients were divided into AF group (n=368) and non-AF group (n=110 487) according to the presence or absence of AF. The cumulative incidence of new-onset CKD in patients was calculated using the lifetable method. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to plot the survival curves of the cumulative incidence of new-onset CKD in the AF group and the non-AF group. The Log-rank test was used to compare the differences in the cumulative incidence of CKD between the two groups. The multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to explore the effect of AF on the risk of new-onset CKD.

AF group was higher than non-AF group in age, male proportion, systolic blood pressure level, diastolic blood pressure level, body mass index, the proportions of education level, participation in physical exercise, hypertension, diabetes, taking hypotensive drugs and hypoglycemic drugs, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level (P<0.05) . AF group was lower than non-AF group in the proportion of alcohol consumption, total cholesterol, triacylglycerol and low density lipoprotein cholesterinlevels (P<0.05) . There were statistically significant differences in the incidence and cumulative incidence of new-onset CKD between atrial fibrillation group and non-atrial fibrillation group (P<0.05) . Stratifying the study population by age, there were statistically significant differences in the incidence and cumulative incidence of new-onset CKD in the study subjects aged≤65 years (P<0.05) and statistically significant difference in the incidence of new-onset CKD in the study subjects aged>65 years (P<0.05) . The results of the adjusted multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis showed that AF was a risk factor for new-onset CKD in people aged≤65 years〔HR=1.350, 95%CI (1.038, 1.755) , P=0.025〕.

AF is an independent risk factor for new-onset CKD in northern Chinese population, especially for young and middle-aged populationaged≤65 years.

The prevalence of anticancer drug-induced kidney injury is increasing, but related renal pathology studies are still rare.

To analyze the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with anticancer drug-related kidney injury.

We selected 112 cancer inpatients aged 18 years or older with kidney injury (kidney injury occurred after cancer or nearly at the same time as cancer, and may be directly or indirectly associated with anticancer treatment) detected by kidney biopsy from Department of Nephrology, the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University from October 2013 to August 2021. We assigned those (n=65) who were previously treated with chemotherapy, molecularly targeted drugs or immune checkpoint inhibitors and other systemic treatments to an anticancer drug group, and other cases (n=47) to a non-use anticancer drug group. We collected their demographics, laboratory examination and pathological data, and analyzed the clinical features and pathological characteristics of kidney of those with anticancer drug-related kidney injury.

In the anticancer drug group, acute kidney injury (AKI) occurred in 30 (50.8%) out of 59 cases of solid cancer, and in 4 out of 6 cases of hematological cancer. In non-use anticancer drug group, AKI occurred in 11 (31.4%) out of 35 cases of solid cancer, and in 6 (50.0%) out of 12 cases of hematological cancer. The serum creatinine level increased after treatment in the anticancer drug group (P<0.001) . Anticancer drug group and non-use anticancer drug group had significant differences in sex ratio, smoking prevalence, mean serum albumin and elevated urinary protein excretion prevalence (P<0.05) , but had no significant differences in mean age, hemoglobin, serum creatinine, urea nitrogen, uric acid, D-dimer, total cholesterol, triacylglycerol, and 24-hour urinary protein quantification, as well as prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, and AKI (P>0.05) . Solid cancer patients with anticancer drug treatment had higher prevalence of tubulointerstitial injury (P=0.023) and lower prevalence ofmembranous nephrosis (P=0.004) compared with those without anticancer drug treatment. Renal tubulointerstitial injury was the main pathological manifestations in the anticancer drug group〔34 cases (52.3%) 〕. Membranous nephropathy〔18 cases (38.3%) 〕and tubulointerstitial injury〔18 cases (38.3%) 〕were main pathological manifestations in the non-use anticancer drug group.

There are various clinical and pathological types of anticancer drug-induced kidney injury. The application of anticancer drug may cause damage to renal function, so priority should be given to the prevention of renal tubulointerstitial injury during the treatment.

As an adjuvant therapy, probiotics can significantly improve the therapeutic effect in lupus nephritis. But there is a lack of comparative studies of efficacies of drug treatments and effects of probiotics on gut flora.

To observe the therapeutic efficacy, and gut flora changes induced by probiotics as an adjuvant therapy for lupus nephritis.

Ninety-eight patients with class Ⅳ andⅤlupus nephritis were selected from Department of Nephrology, Affiliated Hospital of Xiangnan University from 2019 to 2020, and randomized into a routine group (routine treatment) and an intervention group (routine treatment plus probiotics) under allocation concealment. Intergroup comparison of clinical efficacies was conducted after 24-week treatment in terms of levels of 24-hour urine protein, blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, serum IgE, IgG, and serum inflammatory markers, as well as fecal flora changes and fecal short-chain fatty acid concentrations.

A total of 93 cases (46 in routine group, and 47 in intervention group) who completed the therapeutic follow-up were included for final analysis. Both groups had no statistically significant differences in sex ratio, mean age, BMI, baseline levels of systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, hemoglobin, serum albumin, serum creatinine, complement C3 and complement C4 (P>0.05) . At the end of treatment, the intervention group demonstrated lower mean Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Indexof Renal (P<0.05) . The 24-hour urinary protein, blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine decreased notably in both groups at the end of 4, 12 and 24 weeks of treatment (P<0.05) , and the 24-hour urinary protein and blood urea nitrogen in intervention group at the end of 24-week treatment were even more lower (P<0.05) . When the 24-week treatment ended, serum IgE and IgG levels decreased notably in both groups (P<0.05) , and they deceased even more significantly in intervention group (P<0.05) . Moreover, serum C-reactive protein, IL-6 and TNF-α decreased significantly in both groups (P<0.05) , and they deceased even more significantly in the intervention group (P<0.05) . Linear discriminant analysis effect size analysis indicated that at baseline, harmful gut flora such as Helicobacter pylori, Clostridium, and Enterococcus, significantly increased while Verrucomicrobia and other beneficial gut flora significantly decreased in all participants. After the 24-week treatment, the above-mentioned harmful gut flora decreased and beneficial gut flora increased in all participants, and such changes were more significant in the intervention group. Fecal acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid increased significantly in all participants compared to the baseline levels, and they increased even more significantly in the intervention group (P<0.05) .

Adjuvant treatment of lupus nephritis with probiotics could promote the recovery of renal function, by elevating the abundance of Akkermansiaceae, contents of fecal acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid, and lowering serum immunoglobulin.

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is an autosomal recessive genetic disease encompassing enzyme deficiencies in the process of adrenal steroidogenesis, which leads to adrenal cortex dysfunction. Hypersecretion of corticotrophin-releasing hormone and insufficient cortisol production often lead to enlarged adrenal glands. Existing studies have reported that most of space-occupying adrenal masses in CAH are benign, only very few are malignant. It is difficult for clinicians to distinguish the nature of space-occupying adrenal masses, and physicians have insufficient experiences in treating the disease. We reported a phenotypically male case of CAH with huge space-occupying adrenal masses and reviewed relevant literature, aiming to provide evidence on the diagnosis and treatment of this disease for clinicians. The space-occupying adrenal masses in CAH often show tumor-like hyperplasia before diagnosis and treatment or effective hormone replacement therapy, but most of them will be significantly reduced or disappear after glucocorticoid replacement therapy. But a follow-up of several years showed that space-occupying adrenal masses in the CAH patient encountered by us had no significant changes and no significant impact on the patient's body, even without effective drug intervention.

The incidence of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is increasing, which has become a major cause of end-stage renal disease. DKD has an insidious onset, and progresses rapidly since the presence of proteinuria, it is difficult to slow down its progression with conventional therapy especially when renal function is significantly impaired. Therefore, it is urgently necessary to explore an effective treatment for delaying the progression of advanced DKD. The Xiezhuoxiaozheng therapy, proposed by Professor WANG Yaoxian in accordance with the pathogenesis of advanced DKD manifested by turbid poison and mass signs and symptoms (zhengjia) , has proven to be effective in clinical treatment of advanced DKD.

To assess the clinical efficacy and safety of Xiezhuoxiaozheng therapy in advanced DKD based on the theory of "latent internal heat causing renal collateral mass".

A real-world, prospective cohort study design was used to investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of Xiezhuoxiaozheng therapy for advanced DKD in seven hospitals (Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wangjing Hospital of CACMS, Xiyuan Hospital of CACMS, Beijing Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, and Beijing Fangshan District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine) from 2016 to 2020. Patients with DKD who met the inclusion criteria were recruited and divided into a control group (basic western medical treatment) and a test group (basic western medical treatment plus Xiezhuoxiaozheng therapy) taking the method of Xiezhuoxiaozheng and eliminating symptoms as the exposure factor, and received 24-week interventions. At baseline, and the end of 4, 12, and 24 weeks of interventions, serum creatinine (Scr) , blood urea nitrogen (BUN) , 24-hour urine protein, and total cholesterol (TC) , estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were measured, TCM symptom score was assessed. HbA_1c was measured at baseline, and the end of 12, and 24 weeks of interventions. Adverse events were recorded during treatment, and safety was evaluated.

A total of 59 cases completed the study, including 36 in the test group and 23 in the control group. The intervention duration had significant main effect on eGFR, Scr, and BUN levels in both groups (P<0.05) . The intervention therapy and duration had significant interaction effect on the change in the TCM symptom score in both groups (P<0.05) . The control group had increased BUN level at the end of 12 weeks of intervention, and increased BUN, Scr and heat syndrome score at the end of 24 weeks of intervention (P<0.05) . In contrast, the test group had increased eGFR at the end of 4 weeks of intervention (P<0.05) . The test group had higher eGFR and lower Scr, BUN and TCM symptom score at the end of intervention than did the control group (P<0.05) . The incidence of adverse reactions was 21.74% (5/23) in the control group and 8.33% (3/36) in the experimental group. There was no significant difference between the two groups (χ²=2.15, P=0.14) .

For advanced DKD, Xiezhuoxiaozheng therapy combined with usual western medicine treatment may be superior to usual western medicine treatment alone in delaying the decrease of eGFR, slowing down the increase of Scr and BUN levels, protecting kidney function, reducing the heat syndrome score and improving the TCM symptoms, which could improve the clinical efficacy.

From previous studies, the frequency of administration of recombinant human erythropoietin injection (rHuEPO) has no association with its therapeutic effect in renal anemia in chronic kidney disease (CKD), and there is no significant difference in the efficacy between weekly single dosing and divided dosing. Most hemodialysis patients are clinically treated with moderate-dose rHuEPO, but there is a lack of research on the safety of single and divided administration of moderate-dose rHuEPO.

To compare the safety between weekly single and divided administration of moderate-dose rHuEPO for renal anemia in maintenance hemodialysis patients.

This study was designed as a randomized, parallel-group controlled, non-inferiority clinical trial. Eighty-eight patients with renal anemia who underwent maintenance hemodialysis at the Hemodialysis Room, Tongzhou Branch, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine from January 2019 to May 2021 were selected and randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group with 44 in each. For comparing the safety and efficacy of weekly single and divided administration of moderate-dose rHuEPO, 29 cases (experimental subgroup 1) and other 15 cases (experimental subgroup 2) in the experimental group received an rHuEPO dose of 6 000 U, and an rHuEPO dose of 4 000 U, once a week, respectively; 30 cases (control subgroup 1) in the control group received a single rHuEPO dose of 2 000 U, three times a week (6 000 U per week in total), and other 14 cases (control subgroup 2) received a single rHuEPO dose of 2 000 U, twice a week (4 000 U per week in total) .

Safety analysis: two-factor repeated-measures ANOVA showed that the type of intervention scheme and duration had no interaction effects on systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, and pre-dialysis serum potassium between experimental subgroup 1 and control subgroup 1, and between experimental subgroup 2 and control subgroup 2 (P>0.05), and produced no main effects on systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, and pre-dialysis serum potassium in experimental subgroup 1 and control subgroup 1, and between experimental subgroup 2 and control subgroup 2 (P>0.05). The serum levels of AST, ALT and TBiL were similar between experimental subgroup 1 and control subgroup 1 at baseline and 12 weeks of treatment (P>0.05). Likewise, they were similar between experimental subgroup 2 and control subgroup 2 at baseline and 12 weeks of treatment (P>0.05). No thromboembolic, cardiovascular or cerebrovascular events and gastrointestinal reactions related to rHuEPO occurred in any of the subgroups during the 12-week treatment. Efficacy analysis: the hemoglobin level (reference range was 110-130 g/L) in experimental subgroup 1 〔65.5% (19/29) 〕was similar to that in control subgroup 1 〔73.3% (22/30) 〕at 12 weeks of treatment (χ^2=0.425, P=0.514). The serum levels of hemoglobin were similar between experimental subgroup 2 and control subgroup 2 at 12 weeks of treatment (P>0.05). The levels of red blood cell count, hematocrit, percentage and absolute number of reticulocytes, ferritin and transferrin saturation did not vary between experimental subgroup 1 and control subgroup 1, and between experimental subgroup 2 and control subgroup 2 either at baseline or 12 weeks of treatment (P>0.05) .

Weekly single and divided administration of moderate-dose erythropoietin had no significant difference in medication safety in the treatment of renal anemia in maintenance hemodialysis patients.

Cognitive impairment (CI) is highly prevalent in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) , which seriously affects the prognosis of patients. Early identification of its associated factors is of great significance, but there is no agreement as to existing relevant research conclusions, and no relevant systematic reviews conducted with Chinese patients with ESRD.

To systematically evaluate the factors associated with CI in Chinese patients with ESRD.

Databases of PubMed, Web of Science, EMBase, CNKI, WanFangData, CQVIP and CBM were searched from inception to October 2021 for studies (including cross-sectional studies, cohort studies and case-control studies) about associated factors of CI in Chinese ESRD patients (with stage CKD5 defined in the 2002 Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative, or treatment with peritoneal dialysis or hemodialysis) using subject words in combination with free words as search terms with adjustment by the database feature when necessary. Two researchers independently performed literature screening, data extraction, and methodological quality assessment. Stata 15.0 was employed for Meta-analysis.

In total, 44 studies were included, including 42 172 patients, among which, the cohort studies and case-control studies were rated as high-quality evidence, and the cross-sectional studies as moderate or high-quality evidence. Meta-analysis revealed that older age〔OR=1.17, 95%CI (1.13, 1.22) , P<0.001〕, long duration of dialysis〔OR=1.02, 95%CI (1.00, 1.03) , P=0.008〕, hypertension〔OR=2.02, 95%CI (1.06, 3.86) , P=0.032〕, stroke〔OR=1.93, 95%CI (1.33, 2.80) , P=0.001〕, diabetes〔OR=1.99, 95%CI (1.62, 2.44) , P<0.001〕, high Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) 〔OR=5.28, 95%CI (1.48, 18.82) , P=0.010〕, depression〔OR=2.46, 95%CI (1.61, 3.77) , P<0.001〕, high parathyroid hormone (PTH) 〔OR=1.02, 95%CI (1.00, 1.04) , P=0.034〕, high C-reactive protein (CRP) 〔OR=1.20, 95%CI (1.01, 1.42) , P=0.040〕and high Hcy 〔OR=3.34, 95%CI (2.06, 5.42) , P<0.001〕 were associated with increased risk of CI, while male〔OR=0.55, 95%CI (0.37, 0.82) , P=0.003〕, high education level〔OR=0.45, 95%CI (0.37, 0.55) , P<0.001〕, high Hb〔OR=0.91, 95%CI (0.86, 0.95) , P<0.001〕, high serum ALB〔OR=0.77, 95%CI (0.63, 0.94) , P=0.009〕 and high serum creatinine〔OR=0.997, 95%CI (0.995, 0.999) , P=0.003〕were associated with decreased risk of CI.

The current evidence proves that the risk of CI in Chinese patients with ESRD may be increased with older age, long duration of dialysis, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, high CCI, depression, high PTH, high CRP and high Hcy, and decreased with male, high education level, and high Hb, ALB and Cr. However, the conclusion needs to be verified by more high-quality studies due to limited number and quality of included studies.

Time in range (TIR) is a new indicator of glycemic management in diabetes mellitus which has been thriving in recent years. Studies have confirmed that TIR is closely associated with chronic complications of diabetes. Previous studies have confirmed a close association between TIR and chronic complications of diabetes. Current studies on TIR and diabetic kidney disease (DKD) mainly focus on proteinuria, however the role of glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in it is often neglected, and there are few studies on the cut points of TIR in evaluating glycemic control.

To investigate the relationship between TIR and the development of DKD in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), so as to provide theoretical foundations for the timely clinical detection, diagnosis and treatment of DKD in patients with T2DM.

A total of 214 T2DM patients admitted to the Department of Endocrinology in Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from July 2021 to December 2021 were included. The general data, laboratory indices and medication use were collected. The included patients were divided into group of DKD〔UACR ≥ 30 mg/g and/or eGFR < 60 ml·min^-1 (1.73 m²) ^-1, n=58〕 and group of T2DM alone〔UACR<30 mg/g and eGFR≥60 ml·min^-1 (1.73 m²) ^-1, n=156〕 based on the urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (UACR) and eGFR results, the included patients were further divided into TIR1 group (TIR>85%, n=90), TIR2 group (70%<TIR≤85%, n=51), TIR3 group (40%<TIR≤70%, n=57), and TIR4 group (TIR≤40%, n=16) using TIR values of 40%, 70%, and 85% as the cut points. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between TIR and the development of DKD in T2DM patients.

The detection rate of DKD in T2DM patients tended to increase with decreasing TIR levels (P_trend <0.05). The results of multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that TIR was an influencing factor for the development of DKD in T2DM patients after adjusting for variables〔OR=0.976, 95%CI (0.953, 0.999), P=0.047〕; TIR3 and TIR4 groups were influencing factors for the development of DKD in T2DM patients compared to TIR1 group〔OR=5.287, 95%CI (1.897, 14.737), P=0.001; OR=4.712, 95%CI (1.143, 19.424), P=0.032〕 after adjusting for various confounding variables, and the incidence risk of DKD in T2DM patients tended to increase with decreasing TIR levels (P_trend=0.010) .

TIR is an influencing factor for the development of DKD in T2DM patients; the incidence rate of DKD in T2DM patients increases significantly with the decreasing levels of TIR.

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is the most common primary glomerular disease, and one major cause of malignant hypertension (MHT) secondary to renal parenchymal disease. The clinical conditions and severity of renal lesion have been reported to be more serious when IgAN is accompanied by MHT, but risk factors of MHT in IgAN analyzed from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) perspective are still unclear.

To explore the TCM-related factors and pathogenesis associated with MHT in IgAN patients.

From 518 cases of primary IgAN who were diagnosed by renal biopsy in First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital during December 2013 to September 2021, a sample of 12 cases accompanied by MHT (IgAN-MHT group) computed by PASS 15.0 were selected for correlation power analysis, and they were matched at a ratio of 1∶5 with other randomly selected 85 cases without MHT (IgAN group) . Clinical, pathological and TCM syndromes between the two groups were compared. Lasso regression was used to screen 93 TCM syndromes, among which those with significant associations with IgAN-MHT were identified by multivariate Logistic regression.

Compared with IgAN group, IgAN-MHT group had higher prevalence of headache and dizziness or nausea and vomiting as the first clinical manifestations, and clinically diagnosed nephrotic syndrome, higher levels of baseline mean arterial pressure, highest systolic and diastolic blood pressure, blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, serum inorganic phosphorus, serum magnesium, and quantitatively estimated 24-hour urinary protein excretion, higher prevalence of CKD stages 3-5, blood stasis syndrome, subtypes of qi-deficiency syndromes (including mental fatigue and lack of strength, limb fatigue, tibia and leg weakness, dizziness, headache with nausea, and vomiting) , subtypes of yin-deficiency syndromes (including blurred vision and eye floaters) , subtypes of blood stasis syndromes (including nail cyanosis, and dark purple tongue) , and intrarenal arteriosclerosis (P<0.05) . Moreover, IgAN-MHT group had lower prevalence of abnormal urine test results as the first clinical manifestations, previous hypertension and clinical diagnosed chronic nephritic syndrome, as well as lower levels of mean serum IgM and IgG levels, and eGFR (P<0.05) . Both groups had no significant difference in the prevalence of interstitial fibrosis/tubular atrophy (T) lesions among the two groups (P<0.05) . The common TCM syndrome in IgAN-MHT group was qi-yin deficiency syndrome combined with blood stasis syndrome. Correlation analysis showed that IgAN-MHT was positively associated with blood stasis syndrome (P<0.05) ; in IgAN-MHT group, male and quantitatively estimated 24-hour urinary protein excretion was positively associated with qi-deficiency syndrome (P<0.05) ; serum inorganic phosphorus and potassium was negatively associated with yin-deficiency syndrome (P<0.05) , and renal tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis was positively associated with blood stasis syndrome (P=0.040) . Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that headache〔OR=7.895, 95%CI (1.643, 37.935) , P=0.010〕, blurred vision〔OR=5.499, 95%CI (1.207, 25.053) , P=0.028〕, dry mouth with desire for drink 〔OR=10.079, 95%CI (2.289, 44.373) , P=0.002〕, and nail cyanosis〔OR=18.312, 95%CI (2.179, 153.884) , P=0.007〕 were associated with MHT in IgAN.

IgAN-MHT patients had worse renal function and more serious renal pathological damage. The common TCM syndrome in IgAN-MHT was qi-yin deficiency syndrome with blood stasis syndrome. The clinical and pathological indices of IgAN-MHT patients had a certain level of correlation with qi-deficiency syndrome, yin-deficiency syndrome and blood stasis syndrome. The subtypes of TCM syndromes, such as headache, blurred vision, dry mouth with desire for drink, and nail cyanosis were the influencing factors of MHT in IgAN. Early detection, diagnosis and treatment, concern for and improvement of symptoms related to syndromes of qi-deficiency, yin-deficiency, and blood stasis, may contribute to decreased risk of MHT in IgAN.

Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is a quantitative indicator assessing the severity of chronic kidney disease. Studies have shown that elevated glucose in prediabetic period increases the risk of chronic kidney disease, but its direct effect on eGFR has been less reported.

To investigate the effect of fasting blood glucose level on eGFR in a community-dwelling population with impaired fasting glucose (IFG) .

Participants (n=28 601) were selected from a group of physical examinees from Physical Examination Center, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University during January to December 2020 according to the inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria. Demographic and clinical data〔past medical history, sex, age, BMI, blood pressure, serum uric acid, lipids, and creatinine, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) , routine urine parameters〕were collected and compared between subjects with elevated FPG (5.6 mmol/L≤FPG<7.0 mmol/L) and those with normal FPG (3.9 mmol/L≤FPG<5.6 mmol/L) . The influence of FPG on eGFR was assessed by the Mann-Whitney U-test comparing multiple factors〔sex, age, mean arterial pressure (MAP) , serum uric acid, total cholesterol, BMI〕 between subjects with elevated and normal FPG after matching. The correlation between FPG and eGFR was assessed in subjects with elevated and normal FPG before and after matching.

There were 25 539 individuals with normal FPG, and 3 062 with elevated FPG. There were significant difference in age, MAP, serum uric acid, total cholesterol, BMI and eGFR between the two groups (P<0.05) . Individuals with elevated FPG had higher eGFR than those with normal eGFR (P<0.05) after matching age, MAP, serum uric acid, total cholesterol, and BMI between the two groups (P<0.05) . Correlation analysis showed that FPG had a weak negative correlation with eGFR in all participants (r_s=-0.047, P<0.05) , but had a weak positive correlation with eGFR in the matched population (r_s=0.065, P<0.05) , and the correlation coefficient increased further in the matched individuals with elevated FPG (r_s=0.127, P<0.05) .

IFG may be associated with elevated eGFR, which provides a possible basis for the glomerular hyperfiltration state that occurs with elevated glucose in prediabetes.

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a common diabetic complication, which is mainly characterized by damage in renal microvessels. Early diagnosis and active prevention of DKD are the key to improving the prognosis. The blood inflammatory index may be related to DKD.

To explore the value of systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) for the diagnosis of DKD in elderly type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients in the community.

A retrospective study was conducted with 327 elderly patients with T2DM who underwent routine physical examination in Community Medical Department, Beijing Chao-yang Hospital (West Branch), Capital Medical University from January to December 2021. They were divided into non-DKD group (n=112) and DKD group (n=215) by the prevalence of DKD. The general data and laboratory examination data of the two groups were collected and compared. Pearson correlation analysis and Spearman rank correlation analysis were used to assess the correlation of urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (UACR) with other various indicators. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the influencing factors of DKD in the patients. The diagnostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and SII for DKD in these patients was evaluated by using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and the area under the curve (AUC) with corresponding 95%CI was calculated.

The course of T2DM in DKD group was longer than that in non-DKD group (P<0.05). Moreover, the proportion of patients with hypertension history, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine (Scr), UACR, neutrophils, platelets, NLR, PLR and SII in DKD group were higher than those in non-DKD group (P<0.05). Correlation analysis showed that course of T2DM, FPG, triacylglycerol, LDL, neutrophils, platelets, NLR, PLR and SII were positively related with UACR (r=0.716, 0.114, 0.113, 0.144, 0.533, 0.226, 0.538, 0.430, 0.494, P<0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that course of T2DM〔OR=1.300, 95%CI (1.173, 1.441), P<0.001〕, LDL〔OR=2.565, 95%CI (1.320, 4.985), P=0.005〕, Scr〔OR=1.093, 95%CI (1.046, 1.143), P<0.001〕, NLR〔OR=2.565, 95%CI (1.320, 4.985), P=0.005〕and SII〔OR=1.011, 95%CI (1.007, 1.015), P<0.001〕were associated with DKD in elderly. In diagnosing DKD in these patients, the AUC of NLR was 0.755〔95%CI (0.696, 0.814) 〕, the optimal cut-off value was 2.49, with a sensitivity of 72.1% and a specificity of 70.5%; the AUC of PLR was 0.689〔95%CI (0.624, 0.754) 〕, the optimal cut-off value was 112.81, with a sensitivity of 90.2%, and a specificity of 43.8%; the AUC of SII was 0.836〔95%CI (0.791, 0.881) 〕, the optimal cut-off value was 492.08, with a sensitivity of 80.5% and a specificity of 73.2%.

The course of T2DM, LDL, Scr, NLR and SII may be the influencing factors of DKD in community-dwelling elderly T2DM patients. Moreover, SII has great clinical diagnostic value for DKD in this population.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication and a key poor prognostic factor in severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) . It is rather challengeable to prevent and treat AKI in SAP, but early assessment and intervention of related risk factors can prevent or delay its development.

To systematically analyze the risk factors of AKI in SAP.

Databases of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang Data, CQVIP and SinoMed were searched for articles about the risk factors of AKI in SAP from inception to January 2022. Two researchers independently performed literature screening according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, data extraction, and methodological quality assessment. RevMan 5.4 and Stata 15.1 were employed for Meta-analysis.

In total, 21 studies were included, including 3 823 patients. Meta-analysis demonstrated that being male〔OR=1.42, 95%CI (1.21, 1.68) , P<0.001〕, drinking history〔OR=1.51, 95%CI (1.14, 2.01) , P=0.004], higher APACHE Ⅱ score〔MD=5.69, 95%CI (2.95, 8.44) , P<0.001〕, Ranson score〔MD=2.58, 95%CI (2.27, 2.88) , P<0.001〕, and CTSI score〔MD=1.48, 95%CI (0.17, 2.80) , P=0.030〕; increased lencocyte count〔MD=0.96, 95%CI (0.47, 1.44) , P<0.001〕, IL-33〔MD=28.36, 95%CI (19.05, 37.67) , P<0.001〕, CRP〔MD=17.38, 95%CI (12.39, 22.38) , P<0.001〕, Scr〔MD=49.50, 95%CI (24.80, 74.19) , P<0.001〕, PCT〔MD=6.74, 95%CI (3.36, 10.12) , P<0.001〕, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) 〔MD=18.31, 95%CI (11.82, 24.80) , P<0.001〕, and serum lactate〔MD=0.87, 95%CI (0.27, 1.46) , P=0.004〕; prevalence of hypoxemia〔OR=9.42, 95%CI (4.81, 18.44) , P<0.001〕, hypertension〔OR=1.35, 95%CI (1.06, 1.72) , P=0.010〕, diabetes〔OR=1.56, 95%CI (1.20, 2.04) , P<0.001〕, and coronary heart disease〔OR=3.20, 95%CI (1.41, 7.24) , P=0.005〕; use of mechanical ventilation〔OR=5.00, 95%CI (2.76, 9.07) , P<0.001〕; prevalence of shock〔OR=11.60, 95%CI (3.37, 39.91) , P<0.001〕, infection〔OR=5.78, 95%CI (3.10, 10.79) , P<0.001〕, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) 〔OR=7.28, 95%CI (3.56, 14.88) , P<0.001〕, abdominal bleeding〔OR=5.51, 95%CI (1.38, 22.09) , P=0.020〕, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) 〔OR=9.61, 95%CI (4.14, 22.27) , P<0.001〕, and abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) 〔OR=5.79, 95%CI (3.75, 8.93) , P<0.001〕; long stay in the ICU〔MD=8.77, 95%CI (2.76, 14.79) , P=0.004〕were risk factors of AKI in SAP.

Male, drinking history, higher APACHEⅡ score, Ranson score and CTSI score, elevated inflammatory markers (lencocyte count, IL-33, CRP, Scr, PCT, NGAL) and elevated serum lactate, underlying disease prevalence (hypoxemia, hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease) , use of mechanical ventilation, prevalence of shock, infection, MODS, abdominal bleeding, ARDS, and ACS, long stay in the ICU may be risk factors for AKI in SAP. Clinical medical workers should early identify and intervene SAP patients with the above-mentioned risks, so as to reduce the incidence of AKI.

Post-stroke mild cognitive impairment (PSMCI) is a common complication after stroke, which negatively affects patients' full recovery from stroke and imposes financial and emotional pressure on their families.

To observe the clinical efficacy of moxibustion on Governor vessel on the cognitive function and TCM syndromes in PSMCI due to deficiency of kidney essence.

Eligible patients with PSMCI (n=60) who were treated in Rehabilitation Center, the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of CM from July 2020 to July 2021 were selected, and evenly randomized to a control group (routine basic treatment plus routine cognitive rehabilitation training) and a moxibustion group 〔routine basic treatment plus routine cognitive rehabilitation training and moxibustion on the Governor vessel acupoints (once daily, five times per week) 〕, received four consecutive weeks of treatment. The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) , and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) were used to assess the cognitive function. Symptoms of kidney essence deficiency was assessed by the Scale for the Differentiation of Syndromes of Vascular Dementia (SDSVD) . And quality of life was measured by the Specifications for Stroke-Quality of Life (SS-QOL) . The overall clinical efficacy and safety of the two treatments were evaluated.

Pre- and post-treatment comparisons of scores of MMSE and MoCA, SDSVD, and SS-QOL revealed that moxibustion group patients group had greater improvements in cognitive function, symptoms of kidney essence deficiency, and quality of life than control group patients (P<0.05) . Moreover, moxibustion group patients had better clinical outcomes (P<0.05) . The safety of treatment showed no significant intergroup differences (P>0.05) .

Moxibustion of the Governor vessel helps to better improve the cognitive function and TCM symptoms of PSMCI patients due to deficiency of kidney essence with good clinical efficacy and safety.

Patients with diabetic kidney disease (DKD) are more prone to anemia than those with non-diabetic kidney disease. Anemia quickens the progression of DKD, and is closely associated with cardiovascular disease and other complications. So studying the influencing factors of anemia in DKD is of great importance to the reduction of anemia incidence and the delaying of DKD progression.

To investigate the influencing factors of anemia in DKD.

Two hundred and fifty-four inpatients with DKD were selected from Department of Nephrology, First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University from January 2019 to September 2020. Data of them were retrospectively collected, including demographic information 〔gender, age, height, weight, blood pressure, duration of diabetes, calculated body mass index (BMI) , and smoke prevalence〕, and laboratory test indices 〔red blood cells (RBC) , serum hemoglobin (Hb) , total protein (TP) , albumin (ALB) , globulin (GLB) , alkaline phosphatase (ALP) , cholinesterase (CHE) , uric acid (SUA) , blood urea nitrogen (BUN) , creatinine (Scr) , cystatin C (Cys C) , retinol binding protein (RBP) , fasting plasma glucose (FPG) , calcium (Ca) , phosphorus (P) , magnesium (Mg) , zinc (Zn) , iron, unsaturatediron binding capacity (UIBC) , total iron binding capacity (TIBC) , ferritin, transferrin (TRF) , C-reactive protein (CRP) , and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) , glycated hemoglobin (HbA_1c) , UALB/CRE, 24-hour urine for microalbumin (24 h-mALB) , 24-hour urine for total protein (24 h-MTP) 〕 and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) . One hundred and sixteen cases were diagnosed with anemia, and 138 without (anemia was defined as serum Hb≤130 g/L for men, and ≤120 g/L for women) . Spearman rank correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were used to explore the factors associated with anemia in DKD.

Compared with patients without anemia, those with anemia had higher systolic blood pressure, and longer duration of diabetes (P<0.05) . Moreover, anemia patients had lower levels of RBC, Hb, TP, ALB, GLB, CHE, eGFR, serum Ca, Zn, iron, UIBC, TIBC, ferritin, and TRF, and higher levels of BUN, Scr, Cys C, RBP, FPG, serum P, Mg, CRP, ESR, and HbA_1c, UALB/CRE, 24 h-mALB, as well as 24 h-MTP (P<0.05) . Spearman rank correlation analysis showed that Hb was positively correlated with TP, ALB, CHE, eGFR, FPG, serum Zn, and iron, UIBC, TIBC, and ESR (P<0.05) and negatively correlated with SBP, duration of diabetes, BUN, Scr, serum Cys C, P, CRP, HbA_1c, UALB/CRE, 24 h-mALB, and 24 h-MTP (P<0.05) . Multiple linear regression analysis showed that duration of diabetes (β=-0.060) , ALB (β=0.755) , CHE (β=1.512) , Zn (β=1.173) , and HbA_1c (β=-5.766) in serum, and eGFR (β=0.341) were independently associated with serum Hb in DKD (P<0.05) .

Anemia in DKD may be associated with the duration of diabetes, serum levels of ALB, CHE, Zn and HbA_1c, as well as eGFR. The above-mentioned influencing factors should be actively corrected to reduce the incidence of anemia and to improve the quality of life in DKD patients.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common and serious complication that is closely correlated to a poor short-term or long-term prognosis in stroke patients. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a specific AKI screening tool to early identify patients at high risk of AKI.

To construct and verify a risk prediction model of post-stroke AKI and to develop a simple post-stroke AKI risk assessment scale.

Stroke inpatients with complete medical records were selected from the Second Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine by use of convenience sampling, including 760 from neurology department treated during January to September 2021 (model group, 140 with AKI, and 620 without), and 310 treated during October to December 2021 (validation group, 53 with AKI and 257 without). Multivariate Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with post-stroke AKI, then these factors were used to develop a risk prediction model. The Hosmer-Lemeshow test and receiver operating characteristic analysis were performed to assess the accuracy of fit and prediction value of the model, respectively. Then the model was verified in validation group, and based on the validation results, a simple post-stroke AKI risk assessment scale was developed.

The prevalence of post-stroke AKI in the model group was 18.42% (P<0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that sex, history of hypertension, NIHSS score, history of use of loop diuretics, history of mechanical thrombectomy, serum levels of β₂-MG, urea nitrogen, and sCysC were independently associated with post-stroke AKI (P<0.05). The post-stroke AKI risk prediction model constructed is y=1/ (1+e^-a), in which a=-4.047+1.222× male + 1.386 × hypertension history + 1.716 × NIHSS score + 1.098 ×history of use of loop diuretics + 0.830 × mechanical thrombectomy history + 1.739 × β₂-MG+1.202 × urea nitrogen + 2.160 × sCysC. The fit of the model was χ²=6.523, P=0.367. The AUC of the model for predicting post-stroke AKI in model group was 0.916 〔95%CI (0.891, 0.940) 〕, with 0.857 sensitivity, 0.832 specificity, and 0.689 Youden index when the optimal cut-off value was chosen as 12.8%. And the AUC of the model in predicting post-stroke AKI in the verification group was 0.906 〔95%CI (0.853, 0.960) 〕. The coefficients (β) derived from multivariate Logistic regression were rounded to the nearest integral value and weighted, then used to compile a simple scale with a total points of 11, whose AUC in predicting post-stroke AKI risk was 0.900〔95%CI (0.843, 0.957), P<0.001〕when the optimal cut-off value was determined as 4, and the accuracy rate of which in practical applications was 88.39%.

Our risk prediction model could effectively predict the risk of post-stroke AKI with high sensitivity and specificity, and the risk assessment scale compiled based on the model is a simple, feasible, objective, and quantitative tool for identifying high-risk patients, and the assessment result may be a reference for doctors and nurses to take interventions to early prevent AKI in stroke patients.

As the most common clinical manifestation and a major complication in chronic kidney disease, anemia affects the patients' quality of life, increases the risk of renal disease progression and death. Hence, it is important to improve anemia, and monitor and evaluate drug efficacy and safety in the treatment of renal anemia.

To compare the efficacy and safety between roxadustat and erythropoiesis stimulating agents (ESAs) in treating renal anemia in patients with dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease.

We searched PubMed, FMRS, Wanfang Data and ClinicalTrials.gov from inception to January 19, 2022 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about maintenance hemodialysis patients with dialysis duraion≥3 months treated with oral roxadustat (experimental group), versus injection of ESAs (control group). Two researchers independently conducted literature screening, data extraction and quality evaluation. Meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager 5.3.

A total of 5 studies with 6 RCTs were included, involving 901 patients (549 in the experimental group and 352 in the control group). Meta-analysis showed that roxadustat was superior to ESAs in improving the levels of serum iron〔MD=2.49, 95%CI (0.82, 4.16), P=0.004〕, transferrin〔MD=0.31, 95%CI (0.17, 0.44), P<0.000 01〕, total iron-binding capacity〔MD=7.51, 95%CI (5.01, 10.01), P<0.000 01〕. The incidence of adverse events did not differ significantly between the two groups〔RR=1.10, 95%CI (0.99, 1.22), P=0.07〕.

Roxadustat demonstrates better effects than ESAs in increasing the levels of serum iron, transferrin and total iron-binding capacity, without increasing the risk of adverse events during a short-term duration of use.

The immunoglobulin (Ig) G subtype deposited pathologically in patients with idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN) is mainly IgG4, and the deposition of IgG1, IgG2 and IgG3 can also be detected. At present, there has been no report on the damage effect of different IgG subtypes in IMN on the pathological of kidney.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the clinicopathological characters and short-term prognosis in IMN patients with IgG4 combined with other different IgG subtypes deposition.

604 patients diagnosed with IMN in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2015 to June 2018 were included in the study, the baseline information, pathological test results of renal tissue specimens and treatment protocols of the patients were collected. According to the test results of IgG subtypes in renal pathology, the patients were divided into the simple IgG4 deposition group (n=259) , IgG4 combined with IgG1 deposition group (n=259) , IgG4 combined with IgG2 deposition group (n=29) , and IgG4 combined with IgG3 deposition group (n=57) . Starting from the date of percutaneous renal biopsy, the follow-up was performed until 2018-11-06. Kaplan-Meier survival curves of patients with different IgG subtypes were plotted, Log-rank test was used for survival curve comparison.

24-h urine protein in IgG4 combined with IgG1 deposition group was higher than that in the simple IgG4 deposition group (P<0.05) ; the white blood cell count, neutrophil count, monocyte count and 24-h urine protein in the IgG4 combined with IgG3 deposition group were higher than those in the simple IgG4 group (P<0.05) . The positive deposition rates of C3, C4 and λ in the IgG4 combined with IgG1 deposition group were higher than those in the simple IgG4 deposition group (P<0.05) ; the positive deposition rate of C3 in the IgG4 combined with IgG2 deposition group was higher than that in the simple IgG4 deposition group (P<0.05) ; the positive deposition rates of C3, C4 and C1q, semi-quantitative scores of renal tubular atrophy and renal interstitial fibrosis were significantly different between the IgG4 combined with IgG3 deposition group and the simple IgG4 deposition group (P<0.05) . Log-rank test results showed no significant difference in cumulative response rates among the four groups (χ²=0.684, P=0.408) .

The renal clinical and pathological changes were more serious in IgG4 combined with other different IgG subtypes patients than those with IgG4 alone, patients with IgG3 deposition had a more prominent clinicopathological phenotype. There was no significant difference in remission rate after 6 months of follow-up, which may be related to the different intensity of inflammatory response caused by different capacities to fix complement of different IgG subtypes.

Urinary calculi in primary aldosteronism (PA) have been studied almost only in case reports, and most of which have been reported to be associated with nephrolithiasis. Literature review demonstrates that there are few reports on the prevalence, clinical characteristics and possible causative factors of asymptomatic nephrolithiasis/nephrocalcinosis in PA.

To investigate clinical features and possible causative factors of asymptomatic nephrolithiasis/nephrocalcinosis in primary aldosteronism patients in Sichuan.

In this retrospective study, we enrolled 147 PA patients from Department of Endocrinology, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital from January 2017 to April 2021, including 34 also with asymptomatic nephrolithiasis/nephrocalcinosis and 113 patients with PA alone. Clinical data were collected, including sex, age, duration of hypertension, duration of hypokalemia, the lowest serum potassium level in medical history, abnormal glucose metabolism, smoking history, drinking history, systolic blood pressure at admission, diastolic blood pressure at admission, body mass index, waist circumference, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) , fasting blood glucose, serum uric acid, total protein, albumin, potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, carbon dioxide, pH value, bicarbonate (HCO₃) , total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, and glycated hemoglobin, plasma aldosterone concentration, direct renin concentration, and aldosterone-renin ratio in upright posture, serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D, and parathyroid hormone (PTH) , 24-hour urinary electrolyte excretion (K, Na, Ca, Mg, P) , urine microalbumin to creatinine ratio, and urinary pH value. Binary Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the independent risk factors of asymptomatic nephrolithiasis/nephrocalcinosis in PA.

Compared with patients with PA alone, those also with asymptomatic nephrolithiasis/nephrocalcinosis had higher proportion of males, previous or current smokers, and previous or current drinkers, higher mean levels of serum pH value, HCO₃ and PTH, longer mean duration of hypertension, as well as lower eGFR (P<0.05) . Binary Logistic regression analysis showed that serum PTH level〔OR=1.009, 95%CI (1.001, 1.017) , P=0.034〕 was associated with asymptomatic nephrolithiasis/nephrocalcinosis in PA.

Clinical features manifested by PA patients with asymptomatic nephrolithiasis/nephrocalcinosis are as follows: male predominate, longer duration of hypertension, higher rates of smoking and alcohol consumption, and higher serum pH, HCO₃ and PTH levels. Elevated serum PTH level or secondary hyperparathyroidism may be associated with increased risk of asymptomatic nephrolithiasis/nephrocalcinosis in PA.

The number of studies about the status of intestinal flora in children with Henoch-Sch?nlein purpura (HSP) is limited, and there are no reports on changes of intestinal flora in children with Henoch-Sch?nlein purpura nephritis (HSPN) at the early stage of the disease.

To investigate the changes of intestinal flora in HSPN children and their association with the development of the disease.

Thirty-seven newly treated children with HSP (test group) were selected from Department of Pediatrics, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from July to September 2019, and compared to 12 healthy children (control group) in terms of the status of intestinal flora. The test group was further divided into non-renal injury subgroup (13 cases) and renal injury subgroup (24 cases) according to the prevalence of renal injury during a 6-month follow-up. General data and stool specimens were collected from the affected children and healthy children. High-throughput sequencing was used to sequence and analyze the intestinal flora of all subjects. Alpha diversity (Shannon index, Chao1 index, ACE index) analysis was used to explore the richness and diversity of the microbial communities within the samples. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) was used to explore the differences in community structure among the groups, linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) analysis were used to identify species with significant differences.

Alpha diversity analysis results showed that there was no statistically significant difference in Shannon index, Chao1 index and ACE index among the three groups (P>0.05). PCoA showed that the composition of intestinal flora varied across renal injury and non-renal injury subgroups and the control group (P<0.05). Further Adonis analysis revealed that the intestinal flora composition varied significantly between non-renal injury subgroup and the control group (F=2.172, P=0.006), and between renal injury subgroup and the control group (F=2.217, P=0.006), as well as between renal injury and non-renal injury subgroups (F=1.590, P=0.045). LEfSe analysis showed, compared with the control group, the test group had significantly decreased abundance of Blautia, Chryseobacterium, Agathobacter and Roseburia (P<0.05), and significantly increased abundance of Megamonas and Enterococcus (P<0.05). Compared with non-renal injury subgroup, renal injury subgroup had significantly reduced abundance of Christensenella and Bacteroides (P<0.05), and significantly increased abundance of Lactobacillus and Rothia (P<0.05) .

Intestinal flora disorders were found in HSP children, the intestinal flora of children with HSPN at the early stage of the disease were different from those of HSP children without renal injury, suggesting that the intestinal flora disorder at the early stage of the disease may be closely related to the development of HSPN.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a serious risk to the health and longevity of the elderly, and hypertension is closely related to CKD. However, the studies on the correlation of blood pressure levels with the development and progression of CKD in older adults have shown inconsistent results.

To explore the association between blood pressure levels and the risk of CKD among the elderly in longevity areas of China.

From October 2021 to May 2022, a total of 989 older adults who underwent physical examination with biomedical indicators collected in 2012 were selected as subjects based on the subcohort of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) -Healthy Aging and Biomarkers Cohort Study (HABCS) . Age, gender, height, weight, blood pressure, blood lipid, blood glucose, routine blood and urine indicators were collected at baseline, and follow-up monitoring was conducted in 2014. Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to analyze the association between the blood pressure levels and the risk of CKD.

A total of 989 subjects were included in the study, with a median age of 79 (70, 88) years. The cumulative follow-up were 2 046 person-years, with an average follow-up time of (2.07±0.50) years. There were 183 new cases of CKD, the cumulative incidence of CKD was 18.5%〔95%CI (16.1%, 21.1%) 〕, and the incidence density was 89.4/1 000 person-years. During the follow-up, 9.8% (10/102) , 14.0% (47/335) and 22.8% (126/552) of the older adults in the normal blood pressure, high normal blood pressure and hypertension groups developed CKD, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant among the three groups (χ²=16.40, P<0.001) . The results of Cox regression showed that after adjusting for age, sex, BMI, waist circumference, calf circumference, fasting blood glucose, glycosylated serum protein, total cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, uric acid, superoxide dismutase, vitamind3, white blood cell count, red blood cell count, platelet count, blood urea nitrogen and history of diabetes, the older adults in the hypertension group had a higher risk of CKD〔HR (95%CI) =2.28 (1.13, 4.60) 〕 than those in the normal blood pressure group; the risk of CKD was 1.83 times〔95%CI (1.02, 3.29) 〕 higher in the older adults with baseline SBP≥140 mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa) than those with baseline SBP<120 mmHg, and the risk of CKD was 1.55 times〔95%CI (1.02, 2.35) 〕 higher in the older adults with baseline DBP≥90 mmHg than those with baseline DBP<80 mmHg (P<0.05) .

Hypertension is an independent risk factor for CKD in the elderly. It is particularly important to increase screening and prevention of CKD in older adults with predominantly elevated systolic blood pressure.

Qingrexiaozheng formula (QRXZF) has been shown to be effective in improving kidney injury in diabetic kidney disease (DKD) , but the mechanism remains to be unclear.

To explore the effect and mechanism of action of QRXZF in the improvement of kidney injury induced by unilateral nephritic resection combined with streptozotocin (STZ) in DKD rats.

The experiment was implemented from July to November, 2019. Thirty healthy SPF male SD rats were randomly divided into sham operation group (NC group, n=10) and model group (n=20) . Rats in NC group received 1 cm transverse incision performed at the body surface anatomical position of the right kidney and sutured, and intraperitoneal injection of citric acid buffer when the wound healed one week later. Those in model group were treated with right nephrectomy, and received a single intraperitoneal injection of STZ solution (55 mg/kg) with the same volume as the citric acid buffer for the NC group one week later to establish the DKD model. Then rats in the model group were randomly divided into DKD subgroup (n=10) and QRXZF subgroup (n=10) when the modeling was successfully achieved. After this, rats in NC group and DKD subgroup received intragastric administration of the same amount (1 ml/100 g) of 0.9% sodium chloride solution once a day, and those in QRXZF subgroup received intragastric administration of QRXZF at a dose of 7.92 g·kg^-1·d^-1. During the intervention, weight was measured every week. After 16 weeks of intervention, a 24-hour urine, serum and kidney tissue specimens were collected, kidney weight was measured, and the kidney weight index was calculated. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the microalbumin in 24-hour urine (24 hUpro) . The automatic biochemical analyzer was used to analyze serum creatinine (Scr) , blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum albumin (ALB) . Hematoxylin-eosin staining, Periodic Acid-Schiff staining and Masson's trichrome staining were performed to observe the damage degree of kidney tissue. Immunohistochemical method was used to detect the expression level of Caspase-3 and p16 in kidney tissue. The apoptosis of renal tubular cells was detected by in situ terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling.

Compared with rats in the NC group, those in DKD and QRXZF subgroups had lower weight and higher kidney weight index (P<0.01) . Rats in QRXZF subgroup had higher weight and lower kidney weight index than those in DKD subgroup (P<0.01) . In comparison to rats in the NC group, rats in DKD subgroup had higher levels of 24 hUpro, Scr and BUN lower level of ALB (P<0.01) , and those in QRXZF subgroup had higher levels of 24 hUpro and BUN, and lower level of ALB (P<0.01) . Rats in QRXZF subgroup had higher levels of 24 hUpro, Scr and BUN, and lower level of ALB than did those in DKD subgroup (P<0.01) . Compared with rats in the NC group, obvious pathological injury, glomerular hypertrophy and interstitial tubular fibrosis were observed in kidney tissues in rats of both DKD and QRXZF subgroups, but the degree of pathological changes was much lighter in QRXZF subgroup. Immunohistochemistry analysis showed that the expression levels of P16 and Caspase-3 in renal tissue in DKD or QRXZF subgroup were higher than those in NC group (P<0.01) . The expression levels of P16 and Caspase-3 in renal tissue in QRXZF subgroup were lower than those in DKD subgroup (P<0.01) . The rate of renal tubular cell apoptosis in DKD or QRXZF subgroup was higher than that in NC group (P<0.01) . The rate of renal tubular cell apoptosis in QRXZF subgroup was lower than that in DKD subgroup (P<0.01) .

QRXZF effectively improved the renal function, attenuate the pathological damage and fibrosis of the kidney, inhibit the expression of Caspase-3 and p16 in renal tissues, and decrease the rate of renal tubular cell apoptosis in DKD rats, suggesting that the mechanism of QRXZF in improving kidney may be related to inhibiting the aging and apoptosis of kidney cells.

Imbalanced gut flora caused by changes in gut microecological structure and diversity plays an important role in the interaction between diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Rational application of probiotics, prebiotics and other microbiota-modulating agents is contributive to the improvement of gut microbial flora environment and chronic inflammation, as well as the delay of deterioration of renal function in patients with diabetic nephropathy (DN) .

To understand the effect of probiotics, a microbiota-modulating agent, administered based on gut flora status in patients with DN.

Participants were selected from Shanghai Yinhang Community Health Center by use of stratified random sampling in 2019, including 115 patients with DN were randomly divided into control group (57 with usual treatment) and treatment group (58 with treatment with microbiota-modulating agents) . Laboratory test indices and intestinal bacterial culture results were compared between the two groups after eight weeks of treatment to assess the effect of microbiota-modulating agents on improving gut flora in DN.

Among 115 patients with DN, there were 28 males and 87 females, the mean age was (62.9±10.0) years, and the duration of diabetic nephropathy was (14.3±7.1) years. There were no significant differences in the proportion of males, mean age, body mass index, proportion of early DN, and duration of DN between DN patients with usual treatment and those with microbiota-modulating agents treatment (P>0.05) . Compared with DN patients with usual treatment, DN patients with microbiota-modulating agents treatment had decreased levels of glucose, triglyceride, blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, albumin to creatinine ratio, Cystatin C, C-reactive protein, interleukin-1β, and tumor necrosis factor-α, and increased levels of high-density lipoprotein and estimated glomerular filtration rate after treatment (P<0.05) . Moreover, DN patients with microbiota-modulating agents treatment showed lower numbers of Enterococcus (Z=16.482, P<0.001) and Enterobacter (Z=5.138, P<0.001) colonies, and higher numbers of Bifidobacterium (Z=2.470, P=0.014) , and Lactobacillus (Z=8.384, P<0.001) colonies after treatment.

The number of Enterococcus and Enterobacter colonies decreased and that of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus colonies increased in DN patients after treatment with microbiota-modulating agents, indicating that these agents could improve the gut flora.