Low HDL-C can be a biomarker to predict persistent severe AKI in septic patients? A retrospective cohort study.

PURPOSES: Low HDL-C is associated with an increased risk of sepsis-associated AKI and subsequent decline in eGFR. HDL-C possesses anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and endothelial repair-promoting properties. The use of Apo A-I mimetic peptides, which are the main structural components of HDL-C, has been shown to improve renal function in animal models of sepsis. However, the diagnostic value of low HDL-C in persistent sepsis-associated AKI remains unclear. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study based on MIMIC IV (V 2.2). The study population consisted of all adult septic patients admitted to the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Intensive Care Unit from 2008 to 2019, with plasma HDL-C measured within 24 h of ICU admission. The primary endpoint was persistent severe sepsis-associated acute kidney injury (SA-AKI) and the secondary endpoint is kidney replacement therapy (KRT). Logistic regression was used to assess the correlation between HDL-C and persistent severe SA-AKI and KRT, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate predictive ability. RESULTS: A total of 604 cases of SA-AKI patients were included in the analysis, among which 88 cases (14.5%) experienced persistent severe SA-AKI. The median (IQR) HDL-C level in the group with persistent severe SA-AKI was lower (33.0 [24.0-45.5]) compared to the non-persistent severe SA-AKI group (42.0 [31.0-53.0]). However, HDL-C showed poor discriminatory ability with an AUROC [95%CI] of 0.62 [0.56-0.69]. Clinical prediction models based on serum creatinine concentration, 24-h creatinine change, APSIIIscore, lactate levels, APTT, and heart rate performed well in predicting persistent severe SA-AKI with an AUROC [95%CI] of 0.876 [0.84-0.91]. However, adding HDL-C to this model did not improve predictive performance. CONCLUSIONS: The plasma HDL-C measured within 24 h after admission to the ICU does not provide a good prediction for persistent severe SA-AKI, and it does not improve the clinical predictive ability compared to conventional variables.

Migration of phthalates from plastic packages to convenience foods and its cumulative health risk assessments.

Convenience foods are commonly packaged with plastic materials. Many of the phthalate plasticizers (PAEs) in the packages may migrate into the foods and cause health hazards. In the present study, the contents of some PAEs were analyzed in 283 convenience foods and the plastic packaging materials. Health hazards were assessed for infants, children and young people. The contents of diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), found in the samples rich in fat, ranged from below the limit of detection to 5.23 mg/kg. The content of dibutylphthalate (DBP) ranged from 0.511 mg/kg in meat to 2.54 mg/kg in cake. The content of PAEs in convenience foods near their expiration date was much higher than that of just manufactured packages. Children are more prone to be adversely affected by the PAEs than the adults. In addition, females are more sensitive to the PAEs than males.

[Antimony film-plated glassy carbon electrode for simultaneous determination of trace lead and cadmium in urine by differential pulse stripping voltammetry in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate and optimize the experiment conditions of determining lead and cadmium simultaneously with antimony film-plated glassy carbon electrode. METHODS: CTAB was used as sensitizer, and antimony film-plated glassy carbon electrode was prepared by in-situ plating for the determination of trace lead and cadmium by differential pulse stripping voltammetry. RESULTS: Under optimized conditions, well defined peaks of lead and cadmium were obtained at the potential of -0.48 V and -0.73 V respectively. Following a 180 s preconcentration, the stripping peak currents changed linearly with the concentration of lead and cadmium over the range from 0 to 100 µg/L (r ≥ 0.991). The detection limits of lead and cadmium were 0.47 µg/L and 0.78 µg/L. The average recoveries were 92.0% - 104.3% and 94.0% - 102.6% respectively, with the relative standard deviations no more than 6.1%. The method was applied to the determination of lead in urine, and the results were satisfactory. CONCLUSION: The method has high sensitivity, good precision and accuracy. Antimony film electrode could be used for another new environment-friendly membrance electrode for determination of lead in human urine samples instead of mercury film electrode.