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Soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) has previously been demonstrated to play an important part in kidney diseases by hydrolyzing renoprotective epoxyeicosatrienoic acids to their less active diols. However, little is known about the role of sEH in primary glomerular diseases. Here, we investigated the effects of sEH inhibition on proteinuria in primary glomerular diseases and the underlying mechanism. The expression of sEH in the renal tubules of patients with minimal change disease, IgA nephropathy, and membranous nephropathy was significantly increased. Renal sEH expression level was positively correlated with the 24 h urine protein excretion and negatively correlated with serum albumin. In the animal model of Adriamycin (ADR)-induced nephropathy, renal sEH mRNA and protein expression increased significantly. Pharmacological inhibition of sEH with AUDA effectively reduced urine protein excretion and attenuated renal pathological damage. Furthermore, sEH inhibition markedly abrogated the abnormal expressions of nephrin and desmin in glomerular podocytes induced by ADR. More importantly, AUDA treatment inhibited renal NF-κB activation and reduced TNF-α levels in rats with ADR-induced nephropathy. Overall, our findings suggest that sEH inhibition ameliorates renal inflammation and podocyte injury, thus reducing proteinuria and exerting renoprotective effects. Targeting sEH might be a potential strategy for the treatment of proteinuria in primary glomerular diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A tetraphenylethylene (TPE) derivative, TPEPhDAT, modified by diaminotriazine (DAT), was prepared by successive Suzuki–Miyaura coupling and ring-closing reactions. This compound exhibits aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE) properties in the DMSO/MeOH system, with a fluorescence emission intensity in the aggregated state that is 5-fold higher than that of its counterpart in a dilute solution. Moreover, the DAT structure of the molecule is a good acceptor of protons; thus, the TPEPhDAT molecule exhibits acid-responsive fluorescence. TPEPhDAT was protonated by trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), leading to fluorescence quenching, which was reversibly restored by treatment with ammonia (on–off switch). Time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) computational studies have shown that protonation enhances the electron-withdrawing capacity of the triazine nucleus and reduces the bandgap. The protonated TPEPhDAT conformation became more distorted, and the fluorescence lifetime was attenuated, which may have produced a twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) effect, leading to fluorescence redshift and quenching. MeOH can easily remove the protonated TPEPhDAT, and this acid-induced discoloration and erasable property can be applied in anti-counterfeiting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of refractory peritoneal dialysis (PD)‐associated peritonitis as well as the risk factors of its occurrence and treatment failure. Methods: A single‐center retrospective cohort study was conducted among 519 patients undergoing PD from January 2007 to October 2021. According to the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis guidelines, all episodes occurred in our center were divided into two groups: refractory and nonrefractory. Demographic, biochemical, and pathogenic bacteria and treatment outcome data were collected. Results: During the 15‐year period, 282 episodes of peritonitis occurred in 166 patients undergoing PD. The refractory rate was 34.0% (96/282). Gram‐positive organisms were the leading cause of peritonitis (47.9%); however, gram‐negative organisms were predominant in refractory peritonitis (34.4%, p = 0.002). Multiple logistic regression revealed that gram‐negative organism‐based peritonitis, longer PD duration, and female sex were the significant independent predictors of refractory peritonitis. Among 96 refractory episodes, white blood cell (WBC) count, dialysate WBC on Day 3, and PD duration ≥5 years were the independent risk factors of treatment failure. Conclusions: Gram‐negative organism‐based peritonitis, longer PD duration, and female sex were the independent risk factors of refractory peritonitis. Refractory peritonitis with higher WBC count, higher dialysate WBC on Day 3, and PD duration ≥5 years increased treatment failure risk and required immediate PD catheter removal. The timely identification of refractory peritonitis with high risk of treatment failure as well as timely PD catheter removal is important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lanthanide luminescent materials have attracted great attention in the last few decades due to their intriguing optical properties, such as large Stokes shift, long excited state lifetimes, high quantum efficiencies, abundant emission spectra, and high color purity. Stimuli-responsive materials are smart materials that can sense and respond to surrounding stimuli. The combination of stimuli-response with the unique luminescent properties of lanthanides has great potential for numerous applications. Compared to other stimuli, light irradiation offers many advantages, such as cleanliness, easy availability, high efficiency, and remoteness. This review focuses on the construction and response mechanism of photoresponsive lanthanide luminescent materials. Furthermore, various important applications in luminescent actuators, photoswitches, intelligent anticounterfeiting, and theranostics are also highlighted in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peritoneal dialysis (PD)-associated peritonitis is a serious complication observed in peritoneal dialysis patients. Herein, we investigated the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of PD peritonitis in patients with different PD durations. All peritonitis episodes from January 2007 to December 2020 at Peking University People's hospital PD center were retrospectively analyzed and divided into the long-dialysis duration (≥60 months, LDD) and short-dialysis duration (<60 months, SDD) groups. Clinical characteristics and outcomes were compared between these groups. The risk factors for treatment failure were analyzed using a logistic regression model. During 14 years, 156 patients had 267 peritonitis episodes. There were 83 (31.1%) peritonitis episodes in the LDD group and 184 (68.9%) in the SDD group. No statistical difference was noted in peritonitis causes and the composition of causative pathogens between the two groups. The hospitalization, treatment failure, and transfer-to-hemodialysis rates, and peritonitis-related mortality were significantly higher in the LDD group than in the SDD group (all p <.05). Logistic regression analysis revealed that PD duration was an independent risk factor for PD-associated hospitalization, treatment failure and peritonitis-related death (p <.05). The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis results showed that when the cutoff value of PD duration was 5.5 years, the sensitivity of predicting PD peritonitis treatment failure was 51.1%, specificity was 78.8%, and the area under the curve was 0.679 (95% confidence interval: 0.594–0.765, p <.001). PD duration is an independent risk factor for poor prognosis in PD peritonitis. Careful and active attention should be paid to the prevention of peritonitis in PD patients with long PD duration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Studies suggested the association between blood flow rate (BFR) and mortality might be beyond dialysis adequacy. This study aimed to explore if BFR is an independent predictor of clinical outcomes in Chinese hemodialysis (HD) patients. Methods: This study included data from patients in China Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS) Phase 5. Patients with a record of BFR were included, and demographic data, comorbidities, hospitalization, and death records were collected. Associations between BFR and all‐cause mortality and hospitalization were analyzed using Cox regression models. Results: One thousand four hundred twelve (98.9%) patients were included. Most patients were with BFR < 300 ml/min. After full adjustment, each 10‐ml/min increase of BFR was associated with a 6.4% decrease in all‐cause mortality risk (HR: 0.936, 95% CI: 0.880–0.996) but not first hospitalization (HR: 0.987, 95% CI: 0.949–1.027). The impact of BFR on mortality may be more prominent in patients who were male gender, nondiabetic, albumin < 4.0 g/dl, and hemoglobin ≥ 9.0 g/dl. Conclusion: Increased BFR is independently associated with a lower risk of all‐cause mortality within the range of BFR 200–300 ml/min. And this effect is more pronounced in patients who were male gender, nondiabetic, albumin < 4.0 g/dl, and hemoglobin ≥ 9.0 g/dl. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Several studies have verified that unfractionated heparin (UFH) and low molecular heparin (LWMH) can induce bone loss, and bone mineral density has been inversely associated with vascular calcification in some clinical researches. But few have focused on the relationship between types and dosages of heparin and the progression of vascular calcification. We observed the progression of coronary artery calcification (CAC) in maintenance haemodialysis (MHD) patients who were treated with UFH and LMWH. Methods: This was a prospective prevalent cohort study of MHD patients. Computed tomography was performed at enrolment and 2 years after enrolment, and CAC score was obtained. Demographic and clinical data, baseline and time‐average laboratory indices were collected. Multiple linear regression and logistic regression were used to estimate the influencing factors of progression of CAC. Results: In this study, (i) we initially enrolled 69 HD patients, and then 56 patients finished the follow‐up. (ii) Among the total 56 patients, 27 patients (48.2%) were treated with UFH, 14 (25.0%) with LMWH and 15 (26.8%) with both. The median baseline CAC scores of three groups (UFH, LMWH and both users) were 91.0 (1.0, 1052.0), 134.0 (0, 1292.0) and 250.5 (27.0, 1139.0), respectively, with no significant difference (P = 0.663); the median CAC progression scores were 42.0 (0, 364.0), 172.0 (7.0, 653.0) and 118.5 (0, 434.0), respectively, with no significant difference (P = 0.660). (iii) Pearson and spearman correlation analysis shown that the progression of CAC was not associated with cumulative dosage of heparin used. (iv) After adjusted for diabetes mellitus, time‐averaged intact parathyroid hormone, phosphate and alkaline phosphatase, logistic regression analysis showed using different types of heparin was not an independent risk factor for CAC progression; and multiple linear regression analysis showed that the type of heparin used was not associated with CAC progression. Conclusion: There were no significant differences in the effects of the types and dosages of heparin on CAC progression in patients on haemodialysis. SUMMARY AT A GLANCE: This study shows no significant effects of different types and dosages of heparin on baseline and progression of coronary artery calcification in hemodialysis patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peritonitis is the most common complication in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD). Peritoneal dialysis-related peritonitis caused by Brucella species has been reported in only 7 patients before. Here, we report a further case of Brucella peritonitis. This patient was successfully treated with both intraperitoneal and prolonged oral antibiotics, without removal of the PD catheter. We review relevant literature and make recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of Brucella PD-related peritonitis from the cumulative published clinical experience., (Copyright © 2018 International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis.)