Proximal tubule cells in blood and urine as potential biomarkers for kidney disease biopsy.

Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial for managing kidney disease, yet there remains a need to further explore pathological mechanisms and develop minimally invasive diagnostic methods. In this study, we employed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to assess the cellular heterogeneity of kidney diseases. We analyzed gene expression profiles from renal tissue, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and urine of four patients with nephritis. Our findings identified 12 distinct cell subsets in renal tissues and leukocytes. These subsets encompassed fibroblast cells, mesangial cells, epithelial cells, proximal tubule cells (PTCs), and six immune cell types: CD8+ T cells, macrophages, natural killer cells, dendritic cells, B cells, and neutrophils. Interestingly, PTCs were present in both PBMCs and urine samples but absent in healthy blood samples. Furthermore, several populations of fibroblast cells, mesangial cells, and PTCs exhibited pro-inflammatory or pro-apoptotic behaviors. Our gene expression analysis highlighted the critical role of inflammatory PTCs and fibroblasts in nephritis development and progression. These cells showed high expression of pro-inflammatory genes, which could have chemotactic and activating effect on neutrophils. This was substantiated by the widespread in these cells. Notably, the gene expression profiles of inflammatory PTCs in PBMCs, urine, and kidney tissues had high similarity. This suggests that PTCs in urine and PBMCs hold significant potential as alternative markers to invasive kidney biopsies.

Gut Microbiota Profile in Adult Patients with Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Increasing evidences have reported gut microbiota dysbiosis in many diseases, including chronic kidney disease and pediatric idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS). There is lack evidence of intestinal microbiota dysbiosis in adults with INS, however. Here, we to address the association between the gut microbiome and INS. METHODS: Stool samples of 35 adult INS patients and 35 healthy volunteers were collected. Total bacterial DNA was extracted, and the V4 regions of the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene were sequenced. The fecal microbiome was analyzed using bioinformatics. The correlation analysis between altered taxa and clinical parameters was also included. RESULTS: We found that microbial diversity in the gut was reduced in adult patients with INS. Acidobacteria, Negativicutes, Selenomonadales, Veillonellaceae, Clostridiaceae, Dialister, Rombousia, Ruminiclostridium, Lachnospira, Alloprevotella, Clostridium sensu stricto, Megamonas, and Phascolarctobacterium were significantly reduced, while Pasteurellales, Parabacteroides, Bilophila, Enterococcus, Eubacterium ventriosum, and Lachnoclostridium were markedly increased in patients with INS. In addition, Burkholderiales, Alcaligenaceae, and Barnesiella were negatively correlated with serum creatinine. Blood urea nitrogen levels were positively correlated with Christensenellaceae, Bacteroidales_S24.7, Ruminococcaceae, Ruminococcus, and Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136, but were negatively correlated with Flavonifractor_plautii and Erysipelatoclostridium_ramosum. Enterobacteriales, Enterobacteriaceae, Porphyromonadaceae, Escherichia/Shigella, Parabacteroides, and Escherichia_coli were positively correlated with albumin. Proteinuria was positively correlated with Verrucomicrobia, Coriobacteriia, Thermoleophilia, Ignavibacteria, Coriobacteriales, Nitrosomonadales, Coriobacteriaceae, and Blautia, but was negatively correlated with Betaproteobacteria, Burkholderiales, and Alcaligenaceae. CONCLUSION: Our findings show compositional alterations of intestinal microbiota in adult patients with INS and correlations between significantly altered taxa and clinical parameters, which points out the direction for the development of new diagnostics and therapeutic approaches targeted intestinal microbiota.

[Continuous renal replacement therapy for severe acute renal failure].

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the clinical value of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) in the treatment of severe acute renal failure (ARF) and identify the factors influencing the patients' prognosis. METHODS: The clinical characteristics, disease severity and prognosis were retrospectively studied in 116 patients with severe ARF undergoing CRRT from January, 1998 to May, 2004, in comparison with those in 102 such patients treated with intermittent hemodialysis (IHD). RESULTS: The mean score of Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) was 27.0+/-7.5 in patients receiving CRRT, of whom 56 (48%) had a score no less than 29, 36 (31%) between 24 to 29 and 24 (21%) less than 24. The mean APACHE II score was 21.9+/-5.2 in patients with IHD, and none of them had a score over 29, 44 (43%) had a score between 24 to 29 and 58 (57%) less than 24. The mean APACHE II score of CRRT group was significantly higher than that of IHD group (t=4.769, P=0.000), suggesting that most of the patients treated with CRRT were in critical condition. The patients' survival rate, however, did not differ significantly between the two groups, being 37% (43/116) in CRRT group and 48/ (49/102) in IHD group (X2=2.678, P=0.101 8). When only the patients with a score no less than 24 were compared, the survival rate of CRRT group was significantly higher than that of IHD group (24% vs 9%, X2=4.229, P=0.039 7), demonstrating better effect of CRRT than IHD in the management of critical ARF cases. In patients treated with CRRT, the patients in fatal cases had significantly older age, more critical condition (indicated by APACHE II score) and greater dependence on mechanical ventilation or vasoactive support than those who survived (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: CRRT is one of the effective methods for management of severe ARF patients, especially in those with critical conditions, with better effect than that of IHD. The prognosis of severe ARF patients treated with CRRT can be influenced by the patients' age and disease severity, and the need of vasoactive drugs or mechanical ventilation may help predict the patients' prognosis.