Serum cell division cycle 42 reflects the development and progression of diabetic nephropathy in patients with diabetes mellitus.

Cell division cycle 42 (CDC42) regulates podocyte apoptosis to take part in the development and progression of diabetic nephropathy (DN), but currently the clinical evidence is limited. The aim of the present study was to investigate the capability of serum CDC42 expression level to estimate the development and progression of DN in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). Patients with type 2 DM (n=306) were enrolled and divided into normoalbuminuria (n=185), microalbuminuria (n=72) and macroalbuminuria (n=49) groups based on the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio. Serum CDC42 was measured in all subjects using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The median (interquartile range) CDC42 in patients with DM was 0.461 (0.314-0.690) ng/ml (range, 0.087-1.728 ng/ml). CDC42 was positively associated with the estimated glomerular filtration rate (P<0.001), but negatively correlated with body mass index, systolic blood pressure, hemoglobin A1c, serum creatine, serum uric acid and C reactive protein (all P<0.050). CDC42 levels were lowest in the macroalbuminuria group, followed by the microalbuminuria group, and were highest in the normoalbuminuria group (P<0.001). CDC42 indicated that it was a favorable estimator for the presence of albuminuria [area under the curve (AUC), 0.792; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.736-0.848] and macroalbuminuria (AUC, 0.845; 95% CI, 0.775-0.915). By analyses in four different multivariate logistic regression models, increased CDC42 was independently associated with the presence of microalbuminuria (all P<0.001), macroalbuminuria (most P<0.001) and microalbuminuria + macroalbuminuria (all P<0.001). Serum CDC42 level negatively correlated with microalbuminuria and macroalbuminuria in patients with DM, suggesting its ability for estimating the development and progression of DN.

Facile route for synthesis of mesoporous graphite encapsulated iron carbide/iron nanosheet composites and their electrocatalytic activity.

Mesoporous graphite encapsulated Fe3C/Fe nanosheet composites have been synthesized by a facile template free method using ferric nitrate, glycine and glucose as raw materials. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectrometer have been used to characterize the composites. The formation process and morphology of the products have been discussed in detail. Interestingly, this facile route can synthesize graphite encapsulated Fe3C, Fe3C/Fe and Fe composites with two dimensional nanosheet structure by tuning the reaction temperature and the Fe3C and Fe nanoparticles with size less than 30nm are well dispersed on the carbon sheet. The mesoporous graphite encapsulated Fe3C/Fe nanosheet composites with a high specific surface area have application in non-noble metal electrocatalysis for hydrogen evolution reaction.