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Intestinal mucosa barrier injury and immunity imbalance contribute to chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression. Type 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3s) are essential for normal intestinal homeostasis. Nevertheless, the relationship between ILC3s and CKD remains largely unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship linking ILC3s to clinical indicators among patients with renal dysfunction. The levels of circulating ILC3s and dendritic cells, as well as their subsets, in patients with renal dysfunction and healthy controls were determined through flow cytometry. The levels of human plasma granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Renal function was evaluated by measuring the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), as well as the levels of serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and uric acid. The results revealed that the proportion of peripheral ILC3s was significantly decreased in patients with renal dysfunction. This reduction was positively associated with the levels of eGFR, and inversely associated with the levels of BUN and uric acid. Similarly, the percentage of circulating C-C motif chemokine receptor 6-positive (CCR6 +) ILC3s was also obviously reduced, and demonstrated positive and negative associations with the levels of eGFR and BUN, respectively. Furthermore, the levels of CCR6 + ILC3s correlated positively with those of GM-CSF, as well as type 1 conventional dendritic cells (cDC1s), which also decreased in parallel with kidney function. Thus, the reduction of ILC3s, particularly CCR6 + ILC3s, was related to worsening kidney function in patients with renal dysfunction. This effect may delay renal function impairment by regulating cDC1s via the secretion of GM-CSF, indicating that CCR6 + ILC3s may serve as efficient biomarkers for evaluating kidney function.

Chemical investigation of an EtOAc extract of the endophytic fungus

The effect of IL-17A in diabetic kidney disease (DKD) has received increasing attention. Interleukin (IL)-17A promotes renal inflammation and the progression of DKD, and IL-17A deficiency improves experimental DKD. However, recent studies have found that the effect of IL-17A on DKD is more complicated than the negative impact. IL-17A alleviates renal inflammation and fibrosis via regulating autophagy or the macrophage phenotype. Moreover, paradoxical expression of IL-17A has been reported in human DKD. This review focuses on how IL-17A affects the progression of DKD and the resulting opportunities and challenges.

Chemical investigation of an EtOAc extract of the endophytic fungus Pseudocercospora sp. TSS-1 led to the isolation of three new polyketide derivatives, including one benzophenon derivative (1), two spirocyclic polyketides (4 and 5), along with four known compounds (2, 3, 6 and 7). Their structures and the absolute configurations were characterized by means of NMR, HRESIMS, 13C NMR and theoretical electronic circular dichroism calculations. Furthermore, all compounds were evaluated for their antibacterial activity against four microbial pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli), and compounds 1, 2, 3 and 5 displayed significant selective antibacterial activity against S. aureus with MIC values ranging from 3.9 to 7.8 µg/mL.

Fufang Zhenzhu Tiaozhi capsule (FTZ) is a patented preparation of Chinese herbal medicine that has been used to treat hyperlipidemia, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, atherosclerosis, and other glucolipid metabolic diseases (GLMDs) in the clinic for almost 10 years. However, how FTZ reduces albuminuria and attenuates diabetic kidney disease (DKD) progression is unknown.To clarify the effects of FTZ on DKD mice model and to explore the underlying mechanisms.We used streptozotocin (STZ) (40 mg/kg/d, i.p. for 5 days, consecutively) combined with a high-fat diet (HFD) to induce a DKD mouse model, followed by FTZ (1, 2 g/kg/d, i.g.) treatment for 12 weeks. Losartan (30 mg/kg/d, i.g.) was used as a positive control. Measurements of 24 h proteinuria, serum creatinine (SCr), fasting blood glucose (FBG), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels and expression levels of fibronectin (FN), collagen IV, inflammatory cytokines, inflammatory cells, interleukin-17A (IL-17A) and the nuclear transcription factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway in the kidney were examined.FTZ effectively decreased 24 h proteinuria, Scr, FBG, TC, TG, and LDL-C levels, inhibited mesangial cell expansion, reduced FN and collagen IV accumulation, and F4/80FTZ might attenuate DKD progression, and inhibited kidney inflammation and fibrosis by inhibiting the expression of RORγT and IL-17A in vivo, offering novel insights for the clinical application of FTZ.

Three new compounds, including 6-methoxy-3,4,5,7-tetramethylisochromane-3,8-diol (

Three new pterocarpans, named abrusprecatins A-C (

The culture broth of

Two new polyketide metabolites, the 12-membered macrolides 4-hydroxy-12-methyloxacyclododecane-2,5,6-trione (

Ying Hu,1,2 Hai Bo Tan,1 Xin Mei Wang,3 Hua Rong,1 Hong Ping Cui,1 Hao Cui2 Departments of Ophthalmology, 1Shanghai East Hospital of Tongji University, Shanghai, 2First Affiliated Hospital, 3Fourth Affiliated Hospital, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, People's Republic of China Abstract: Glaucoma is a common eye disease in the aged population and has severe consequences. The present study examined the therapeutic effects of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (BMSC) transplantation in preventing loss of visual function in aged rats with glaucoma caused by laser-induced ocular hypertension. We found that BMSCs promoted survival of retinal ganglion cells in the transplanted eye as compared with the control eye. Further, in swimming tests guided by visual cues, the rats with a BMSC transplant performed significantly better. We believe that BMSC transplantation therapy is effective in treating aged rats with glaucoma. Keywords: glaucoma, stem cell, transplantation, cell therapy, aging

Rho-associated kinase (ROCK) is a serine/threonine kinase and one of the major downstream effectors of the small GTPase RhoA. The Rho/ROCK pathway is closely related to the pathogenesis of several central nervous system (CNS) disorders, and involved in many aspects of neuronal functions including neurite outgrowth and retraction. In the adult CNS, the damaged neuron regeneration is very difficult due to the presence of myelin-associated axon growth inhibitors such as Nogo, myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) and oligodendrocyte-myelin glycoprotein (Omgp), etc. The effects of these axon growth inhibitors are reversed by blocking the Rho/ROCK pathway in vitro, and the inhibition of Rho/ROCK pathway can promote axon regeneration and functional recovery in the injured CNS in vivo. In addition, the therapeutic effects of the Rho/ROCK inhibitors have also been demonstrated in some animal models and the Rho/ROCK pathway becomes an attractive target for the development of drugs for treating CNS disorders. In this review, we summarized on the effect of the Rho and the downstream factor ROCK in neural regeneration, and the potential therapeutic effect of Rho/ROCK inhibitors in the survival and axonal regeneration of retinal ganglion cells was also discussed.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the incidence of incidental parotid masses with conventional whole-body ¹⁸F-deoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT and assess the ability of PET/CT to characterize these unexpected parotid lesions.Fifty eight incidental findings of parotid masses with routine FDG PET/CT whole-body scan were reviewed in this retrospective analysis, which were selected from the patients without any known or suspected parotid disease in our PET center, from June 2005 to May 2009. 51 cases were operated or underwent a biopsy after a short-term PET/CT study; the remaining 7 cases had a follow-up. Parotid mass that showed both noncontrast CT (irregular shape and blurry border) and PET malignant features (high FDG uptake, SUV(max)3.0) was considered as positive for malignancy. Correlation of FDG PET/CT with histology or follow-up outcome was performed.Fifty eight unexpected findings of parotid masses accounted for 0.3% of the total cases in 4 years, including 11 (19.0%) malignant tumors and 47 (81.0%) benign lesions. 13 lesions manifested single nodule with malignant CT features and intense FDG activity, of which 6 were proved to be malignant; thus, sensitivity and positive predictive values were 54.5% (6 of 11) and 46.2% (6 of 13), respectively. 45 lesions showed either single nodule with benign CT features, or a low FDG uptake (SUV(max) ≤ 3.0), of which 40 were true negatives; therefore, specificity and negative predictive values were 85.1% (40 of 47) and 88.9% (40 of 45), respectively. All parotid masses except 9 benign and 1 malignant showed a high FDG uptake. Compared with SUV only, combined interpretation of PET and CT results displayed a lower sensitivity (90.9-54.5%), but a higher specificity (19.1-85.1%) and a higher overall accuracy.Whole-body FDG-PET/CT at the time of surveying the entire body condition is helpful for detecting the asymptomatic parotid masses. Combined noncontrast CT is an essential evidence for improving the diagnostic accuracy of FDG-PET/CT for parotid masses.