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Assessing and comparing the ability of the hypertriglyceridemic waist (HW) phenotype and anthropometric obesity indexes to identify subjects at high risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in a relatively lean population in South China. Using data from a community-based, cross-sectional study conducted in Zhuhai City, Southern China, we examined associations between the HW phenotype, anthropometric obesity indexes, and incident CKD risk in a relatively lean population. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the associations. The HW phenotype associated with CKD significantly in the unadjusted analysis (OR 3.53, 95% CI 1.65–7.52, P= 0.001). Further adjustment for gender, age, and other potential confounding variables had an impact on the odd ratios (OR); the OR decreased but still existed (OR 2.91, 95% 1.23–6.87, P= 0.016). The association of the HW phenotype with CKD remained significant after further adjustment for hypertension and diabetes. No significant association between the anthropometric indexes and incident CKD was found. The HW phenotype, but not the anthropometric indexes, is associated with an elevated risk of CKD in relatively lean subjects. The HW phenotype appears to be a better predictor of CKD than the anthropometric indexes. Level V, descriptive study.

Urinary extracellular vesicles (uEVs) have become a promising source for biomarkers accurately reflecting biochemical changes in kidney and urogenital diseases. Characteristically, uEVs are rich in membrane proteins associated with several cellular functions like adhesion, transport, and signaling. Hence, membrane proteins of uEVs should represent an exciting protein class with unique biological properties. In this study, we utilized uEVs to optimize the Triton X-114 detergent partitioning protocol targeted for membrane proteins and proceeded to their subsequent characterization while eliminating effects of Tamm–Horsfall protein, the most abundant interfering protein in urine. This is the first report aiming to enrich and characterize the integral transmembrane proteins present in human urinary vesicles. First, uEVs were enriched using a “hydrostatic filtration dialysis’’ appliance, and then the enriched uEVs and lysates were verified by transmission electron microscopy. After using Triton X-114 phase partitioning, we generated an insoluble pellet fraction and aqueous phase (AP) and detergent phase (DP) fractions and analyzed them with LC–MS/MS. Both in- and off-gel protein digestion methods were used to reveal an increased number of membrane proteins of uEVs. After comparing with the identified proteins without phase separation as in our earlier publication, 199 different proteins were detected in DP. Prediction of transmembrane domains (TMDs) from these protein fractions showed that DP had more TMDs than other groups. The analyses of hydrophobicity revealed that the GRAVY score of DP was much higher than those of the other fractions. Furthermore, the analysis of proteins with lipid anchor revealed that DP proteins had more lipid anchors than other fractions. Additionally, KEGG pathway analysis showed that the DP proteins detected participate in endocytosis and signaling, which is consistent with the expected biological functions of membrane proteins. Finally, results of Western blotting confirmed that the membrane protein bands are found in the DP fraction instead of AP. In conclusion, our study validates the use of Triton X-114 phase partitioning protocol on uEVs for a targeted isolation of membrane proteins and to reduce sample complexity. This method successfully facilitates detection of potential biomarkers and druggable targets in uEVs.

We performed this study to investigate the prevalences of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in a Chinese population with normal weight. We also examined whether fat mass is associated with insulin resistance and MetS in normal-weight individuals. Data were drawn from a cross-sectional study in China. Subjects with diabetes were excluded. The prevalences of insulin resistance and MetS were calculated. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed repeated separately for body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) in both men and women. We also used the combination of BMI and WC to predict insulin resistance and MetS. 8.55 % of normal-weight men and 12.62 % of normal-weight women had insulin resistance. 7.41 % of normal-weight men and 10.24 % of normal-weight women had MetS. WC was associated with incident insulin resistance and MetS independent of BMI in both men and women. BMI was independently associated with incident MetS in women. Normal-weight individuals with insulin resistance and/or MetS are not rare in the Chinese population. Fat mass is associated with insulin resistance and MetS in normal-weight subjects. The current findings support using both BMI and WC in clinical practice.

We recently demonstrated that oestrogens ameliorate the progression of chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN). In our present study, we investigated the role of progesterone and selective oestrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) in this process.

Chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN) is responsible for most cases of late kidney allograft loss. However, no effective treatment is available so far. Everolimus (RAD) (40-O 2-hydroxyethyl rapamycin) is a new immunosuppressive agent with antiproliferative and apoptosis-enhancing effects. We asked whether everolimus can ameliorate CAN even at advanced stages, whether everolimus treatment affects the level of growth factor mRNA, and whether everolimus treatment affects the number of apoptotic cells in the graft.

Chronic rejection remains the most frequent cause of renal graft loss over the long term.However, effective treatment of this process is not yet available. SDZ-RAD (40-O-2-hydroxyethyl-rapamycin) is a new, orally active rapamycin derivative with potent immunosuppressive activity. We have examined the effects of SDZ-RAD in a well-established model of chronic renal allograft rejection in rats.