Analysis of the safety and efficacy of combined extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy and percutaneous nephrolithotomy for the treatment of complex renal calculus.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the safety and efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) combined with percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) for treatment of complex renal calculus. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Seventy-eight patients diagnosed with complex renal calculus and who accepted treatment in our hospital were consecutively selected. Patients were divided randomly into the observation group (n=40) treated by combined ESWL and PCNL and the control group (n=38) treated by PCNL. The effect of treatment between the two groups was compared. RESULTS: The stone-free rate at 3 months after surgery was higher in the observation group than in the control group. There were no differences in the rates of complications (including infection, hemorrhage, collection system perforation and laceration, peripheral organ impairment, and urination extravasation). There were gradual decreases of serum creatinine in the observation group at 4 weeks after extubation of the double J catheter and at 3 months after surgery, while there were no apparent decreases in the control group. The levels of cysteine protease inhibitor and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin in both groups increased at 4 weeks after extubation of the double J catheter, and decreased at 3 months after surgery. The decreases were more apparent in the observation group compared with the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Combined use of ESWL and PCNL to treat complex renal calculus can improve the stone-free rate and renal function, and does not increase the complication rate. It is, therefore, safe and effective.

Overexpression of ß-arrestin2 induces G1-phase cell cycle arrest and suppresses tumorigenicity in renal cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the role of ß-arrestin2 in the proliferation, migration, apoptosis, cell cycle and clone formation of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cell lines and to explore the possible mechanism of ß-arrestin2 in RCC invasion and metastasis to find a new therapeutic target. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cell proliferation, migration, apoptosis, cell cycle and clone formation were analyzed after RCC cell lines (786-0 and CaKi) and transfected with ß-arrestin2 overexpression plasmid. Using small interfering RNA (siRNA) interference technology abrogates ß-arrestin2 overexpression, and changes in cell proliferation, migration, apoptosis, cell cycle and clone formation were analyzed. The expression levels of total IkBa, IkBa phosphorylation (P-IkBa) and NFkB P65 in 786-0 cells were examined after transfection with ß-arrestin2 overexpression plasmid to explore the mechanism of ß-arrestin2. RESULTS: After transfection with ß-arrestin2 overexpression plasmid, the abilities of proliferation, migration, and cloning formation in 786-0 and CaKi cells decreased significantly, the apoptosis rate increased significantly, and the cell cycles were blocked in the G1 phase. After siRNA reduced the expression of ß-arrestin2, the abilities to proceed through cell proliferation, migration, apoptosis, the cell cycle and clone formation were enhanced. The P-IkBa level in 786-0 cells decreased significantly after transfection, while the expression of P-IkBa in the control group remained high. The expression of NFkB P65 was high in the control group and low in the transfection group. CONCLUSIONS: The overexpression of ß-arrestin2 can inhibit the growth of RCC cells in vitro, and ß-arrestin2 acts as a tumor suppressor gene in RCC. The main mechanism may directly suppress the phosphorylation of IkBa and indirectly suppress NFkB activation. Thus, ß-arrestin2 is expected to be an important marker of RCC prognosis and a new therapeutic target.

Urinary apolipoprotein M could be used as a biomarker of acute renal injury: an ischemia-reperfusion injury model of kidney in rat.

BACKGROUND: It has been well documented that apolipoprotein M (apoM) is principally expressed in hepatocytes as well as renal tubular epithelial cells. The importance of apoM in the kidney is unknown. In the present study we examined urinary any apoM after short-term ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) of kidney in a rat model. METHODS: The kidneys of 11 male Sprague-Dawley rats were rendered ischemic for 45 minutes followed by different intervals of reperfusion. Serum and urine apoM concentrations were determined using a dot-blot analysis with specific rabbit anti-human apoM antibodies that cross-react with rat apoM. Serum concentrations of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine (Cr) were determined using standard clinical automated analyses. RESULTS: BUN was significantly elevated after 45 minutes of ischemia followed by 24 hours of reperfusion; serum Cr concentrations were also significantly increased at 6 and 24 hours of reperfusion. Interestingly, similar to BUN and Cr, serum apoM concentrations were significantly increased after ischemia for 45 minutes alone and after 2 hours of reperfusion. Urinary apoM concentrations were obviously increased after 2 h as well as 6 hours of reperfusion. CONCLUSION: apoM showed characteristics of an acute-phase reactive protein; its occurrence in urine may be considered to be a biomarker of acute renal injury.

Screening of differentially expressed genes of middle cerebral artery occlusion with DNA microarray.

OBJECTIVES: To screen differentially expressed genes of different days after cerebral artery occlusion and drug treatment, and identify related small drug molecules. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The gene expression profile GSE35338 of cerebral artery occlusion was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus database, including a total of 14 samples. 5 samples are 1 day after cerebral artery occlusion (control), 3 samples are 7 days after cerebral artery occlusion and 3 samples are under lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between different days after cerebral artery occlusion were screened (p < 0.05, FDR < 0.05, |logFC| > 1). The DEGs were then entered into the CMAP database and related small drug molecules were retrieved, followed by calculation of co-expression score of the genes and construction of co-expression-drug network. FuncAssociate software and DAVID were used to obtain the functional clusters of genes with p-value < 0.05 and FDR < 0.05. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, 825, 1445, 218 DEGs and 4, 3, 2 most-related small drug molecules were respectively identified from 3, 7 days after cerebral artery occlusion and LPS treated group. Co-expression network was constructed and functional clusters were found to be 161, 146, and 6 in each group. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides some underlying biomarkers for cerebral artery occlusion under varied conditions and potential small drug molecules for treatment of cerebral artery occlusion.

Physiological and biochemical analysis of L. tredecimguttatusvenom collected by electrical stimulation

The L. tredecimguttatus venom was collected by electrical stimulation and systematicallyanalyzed. Gel electrophoresis and RP-HPLC showed that the venomconsisted primarily of proteins with molecular weights above 10 kDa, most of whichwere high-molecular-mass acidic proteins, with fewer proteins and peptides below 10kDa. The most abundant proteins in the venom were concentrated at around 100kDa, which included latrotoxins- the principal toxic components of the venom.Injection of the venom in mice and cockroaches P. americana gave rise to obviouspoisoned symptoms, with LD50 values of 0.16 mg/kg and 1.87 ìg/g , respectively.Electrophysiological experiments showed that the venom could block the neuromusculartransmission in isolated mouse phrenic nerve-hemidiaphragm and rat vasdeferens preparations. The low-molecular-weight fraction (<10 kDa) of the venomhad no effect on the transmission. Enzymatic analysis indicated that the venom possessactivities of several kinds of hydrolases including hyaluronidase and proteases.These results demonstrated that L. tredecimguttatus venom was basically a large-protein-constituted venom and is one of the most poisonous spider venoms known inthe world. The mammalian toxicity of the venom was based on its larger proteinsrather than on smaller proteins and peptides, and its hydrolase activities might beinvolved in the latrodectism. The use of electrical stimulation method to collect thevenom has the advantages of avoiding contamination and repeated use of the valuableL. tredecimguttatus venom resources (AU)

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Physiological and biochemical analysis of L. Tredecimguttatus venom collected by electrical stimulation

The L. tredecimguttatus venom was collected by electrical stimulation and systematicallyanalyzed. Gel electrophoresis and RP-HPLC showed that the venomconsisted primarily of proteins with molecular weights above 10 kDa, most of whichwere high-molecular-mass acidic proteins, with fewer proteins and peptides below 10kDa. The most abundant proteins in the venom were concentrated at around 100kDa, which included latrotoxins- the principal toxic components of the venom.Injection of the venom in mice and cockroaches P. americana gave rise to obviouspoisoned symptoms, with LD50 values of 0.16 mg/kg and 1.87 ìg/g , respectively.Electrophysiological experiments showed that the venom could block the neuromusculartransmission in isolated mouse phrenic nerve-hemidiaphragm and rat vasdeferens preparations. The low-molecular-weight fraction (<10 kDa) of the venomhad no effect on the transmission. Enzymatic analysis indicated that the venom possessactivities of several kinds of hydrolases including hyaluronidase and proteases.These results demonstrated that L. tredecimguttatus venom was basically a large-protein-constituted venom and is one of the most poisonous spider venoms known inthe world. The mammalian toxicity of the venom was based on its larger proteinsrather than on smaller proteins and peptides, and its hydrolase activities might beinvolved in the latrodectism. The use of electrical stimulation method to collect thevenom has the advantages of avoiding contamination and repeated use of the valuable L. tredecimguttatus venom resources (AU)

No disponible