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ObjectiveThis study aims to conduct a detailed bibliometric and visual analysis of acute kidney injury (AKI) and immune-related research conducted over the past two decades, focusing on identifying emerging trends and key areas of interest.MethodsThe Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) was utilised for the meticulous examination of various parameters including publication volume, authorship, geographic distribution, institutional contributions, journal sources, prevalent keywords and citation frequencies. Data were intricately visualised and interpreted using VOSviewer, CiteSpace and Excel 365 software.ResultsAnalysis of the WoSCC database revealed 3,537 articles on AKI and immunisation, originating from 94 countries and regions, involving 3,552 institutions and authored by 18,243 individuals. Notably, the top five countries contributing to this field were the United States, China, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, with the United States leading with 35.76% of total publications. Among the 3,552 contributing institutions, those in the United States were predominant, with Harvard University leading with 134 papers and 3,906 citations. Key journals driving productivity included Frontiers in Immunology, Kidney International, Journal of the American Society of Nephrology and International Journal of Molecular Sciences, with Kidney International being the most cited, followed by Journal of the American Society of Nephrology and New England Journal of Medicine. Prominent authors in the field included Ronco Claudio, Okusa Mark D and Anders, Hans-Joachim. Co-citation clustering and timeline analysis highlighted recent research foci such as COVID-19, immune checkpoint inhibitors, regulated necrosis, cirrhosis and AKI. Keyword analysis identified “inflammation,” “ischaemia-reperfusion injury,” “sepsis,” “covid-19,” and “oxidative stress” as prevalent terms.ConclusionThis study provides the first bibliometric analysis of AKI and immune research, offering a comprehensive overview of research hotspots and evolving trends within the field.

Objective This study aims to assess the clinical efficacy and safety of CHF-II in combination with RG for treating AKI on CKD (A on C), and to explore potential therapeutic mechanisms through lipidomics analysis.Methods 98 patients were enrolled and randomly assigned to the RG or RG + CHF groups. Both groups received RG therapy, with RG + CHF group additionally receiving CHF-II treatment over a duration of two weeks. Evaluation endpoints included changes in renal function, blood lipid profiles, urinary AKI biomarkers, and TCM symptoms before and after treatment. Serum samples were collected for lipid metabolite analysis.Results The total clinical effective rate in RG + CHF group was 73.5%, and that of RG group was 40.8%. TCM syndrome scores in RG + CHF group showed a more pronounced decrease (p

Abstract The photocatalytic conversion of CO2 into solar‐powered fuels is viewed as a forward‐looking strategy to address energy scarcity and global warming. This work demonstrated the selective photoreduction of CO2 to CO using ultrathin Bi12O17Cl2 nanosheets decorated with hydrothermally synthesized bismuth clusters and oxygen vacancies (OVs). The characterizations revealed that the coexistences of OVs and Bi clusters generated in situ contributed to the high efficiency of CO2–CO conversion (64.3 μmol g−1 h−1) and perfect selectivity. The OVs on the facet (001) of the ultrathin Bi12O17Cl2 nanosheets serve as sites for CO2 adsorption and activation sites, capturing photoexcited electrons and prolonging light absorption due to defect states. In addition, the Bi‐cluster generated in situ offers the ability to trap holes and the surface plasmonic resonance effect. This study offers great potential for the construction of semiconductor hybrids as multiphotocatalysts, capable of being used for the elimination and conversion of CO2 in terms of energy and environment.

Polymeric carbon nitride (PCN) is a kind of polymeric semiconductor that is widely popular in photocatalysis-related energy and environmental fields. However, the photocatalytic activity is still limited due to its poor conductivity and low charge separation efficiency. In this work, benzene rings were introduced to adjust the electronic structure of PCN, and then a PCN-based all-solid Z-scheme heterojunction was fabricated by combing multiwall carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and ferric oxide through precipitation and the in situ deposit method. Upon optimizing the ratio between PCN, CNTs, and Fe2O3, (PCN:CNTs:Fe2O3 = 10:1:3 by weight), the composites expressed superior photocatalytic degradation activity towards methylene blue (MB) and crystal violet (CV) compared with pristine PCN and Fe2O3. The MB degradation percentage achieved 90% in 75 min, and the CV up to 99.6% within 50 min. The Z-scheme mechanism was verified by band alignment and metal selective deposition. The CNTs in the heterojunction played the role of an electron shuttling mediator and hence improved charge separation efficiency. This work provides ideas for the construction of polymer-inorganic all-solid Z-scheme photocatalysts for practical applications.

The utilization of contrast media (CM) in clinical diagnostic imaging and interventional procedures has escalated, leading to a gradual increase in the incidence of contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI). Presently, the scarcity of effective pharmacological treatments for CI-AKI poses significant challenges to clinical management. Firstly, we explore the pathogenesis of CI-AKI in this review. Beyond renal medullary ischemia and hypoxia, oxidative stress, cellular apoptosis, and inflammation, emerging mechanisms such as ferroptosis, release of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), and nitrosative stress, which offer promising avenues for the management of CI-AKI, are identified. Secondly, a comprehensive strategy for the early prevention of CI-AKI is introduced. Investigating the risk factors associated with CI-AKI is essential for the timely identification of high-risk groups. Additionally, exploring early sensitive biomarkers is crucial for early diagnosis. A synergistic approach that combines these sensitive biomarkers, CI-AKI risk factors, and disease risk prediction models enhances both the accuracy and efficiency of early diagnostic processes. Finally, we explore recent pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for the management of Cl-AKI. Beyond the traditional focus on the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC), we look at active compounds from traditional Chinese medicine, including tetramethylpyrazine (TMP), salvianolic acid B (Sal B), as well as emerging preventive medications like N-acetylcysteine amide (NACA), alprostadil, and others, which all showed potential benefits in animal and clinical studies for CI-AKI prevention. Furthermore, innovative strategies such as calorie restriction (CR), enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP), and mesenchymal stem cell therapy are highlighted as providing fresh insights into Cl-AKI prevention and management.

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are widely recognized for their exceptional mechanical properties and potential to reinforce composite materials. However, the requirement for high MWCNT concentration remains a challenge in achieving effective reinforcement. In this study, using unzipped multi-walled carbon nanotubes (uMWCNTs) and transition metal filler as a means to significantly enhance the mechanical properties of polyamide 66 (PA66) and incorporating 0.2% w/w of uMWCNTs-Mn as filler allowed us to increase PA66's tensile strength by over 74% and its Young's modulus by over 100%. The structural and functional integrity of uMWCNTs-Mn and PA66 matrix were investigated in detail. This work reveals that the enhancement of mechanical properties is mainly due to the interfacial interaction between uMWCNTs-Mn sheets and the PA66 matrix, the coupling effect of manganese ions, and increases the crystallinity and reduces the size of microcrystals. This work's findings provide a novel approach to the preparation of high-performance composites with low concentrations of carbon nanostructures, which holds significant implications for the development of advanced materials.

Objectives: To evaluate whether novel biomarkers of renal injury, serum HE4 and NT-proBNP could predict acute kidney injury (AKI) on chronic kidney disease (CKD) (A on C) and assess the specificity and efficiency of serum creatinine (SCr), HE4 and NT-proBNP in identifying potential AKI. Meanwhile, the potential early-warning value of HE4 and NT-proBNP in CKD patients was explored.Methods: We performed a single-center, retrospective cohort study of 187 adult CKD patients. 32 AKI (grades 1–2) patients with pre-existing CKD (stages 3–5) were Group 1, 59 patients of CKD (stages 4–5) were Group 2. Another 96 patients of CKD (stages 1–3) were Group 3. All patients received general treatments, Group 1 patients received Chinese herb formulation (Chuan Huang Fang-Ⅱ, CHF-Ⅱ) simultaneously. These 155 CKD (stages 1–5) without AKI patients were observed for descriptive analysis.Results: HE4 in Group 1 (860.63 ± 385.40) was higher than that in Group 2 (673.86 ± 283.58) before treatments. BUN, SCr, UA, NGAL, IL18, HE4 and NT-proBNP in Group 1 were lower, while eGFR was higher (p < 0.01, after vs. before treatments). In Group 1, both HE4 and NT-proBNP were positively correlated with SCr (respectively r = 0.549, 0.464) before treatments. The diagnostic performance of serum HE4 and NT-proBNP for A on C was 351.5 pmol/L, 274.5 pg/mL as the optimal cutoff value Area Under Curve (AUC) 0.860 (95% CI: 0.808 – 0.913, p < 0.001), [AUC 0.775 (95% CI: 0.697 – 0.853, p < 0.001), with a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 66.5%, 87.5% and 48.8%, respectively]. In Group 2, serum HE4 was correlated with SCr (r = 0.682, p < 0.01) before treatments. Serum HE4 and NT-proBNP were elevated in advanced CKD stages, and were increased as CKD stages progressed with statistical significance.Conclusion: This work indicated serum HE4 and NT-proBNP should elevate in A on C and CKD patients, HE4 is positively correlated with the disease severity, and patients with higher HE4 and NT-proBNP usually have poorer prognosis. Thus, serum HE4 and NT-proBNP are impactful predictors of A on C. Additionally, serum HE4 and NT-proBNP have the potential to evaluate clinical efficacy of A on C.

The molecular mechanisms of Rhizoma Chuanxiong (Chuanxiong, CX) and Rhei Radix et Rhizoma (Dahuang, DH) in treating acute kidney injury (AKI) and subsequent renal fibrosis (RF) were investigated in this study by applying network pharmacology and experimental validation. The results showed that aloe-emodin, (−)-catechin, beta-sitosterol, and folic acid were the core active ingredients, and TP53, AKT1, CSF1R, and TGFBR1 were the core target genes. Enrichment analyses showed that the key signaling pathways were the MAPK and IL-17 signaling pathways. In vivo experiments confirmed that Chuanxiong and Dahuang pretreatments significantly inhibited the levels of SCr, BUN, UNAG, and UGGT in contrast media-induced acute kidney injury (CIAKI) rats (p < 0.001). The results of Western blotting showed that compared with the control group, the protein levels of p-p38/p38 MAPK, p53, and Bax in the contrast media-induced acute kidney injury group were significantly increased, and the levels of Bcl-2 were significantly reduced (p < 0.001). Chuanxiong and Dahuang interventions significantly reversed the expression levels of these proteins (p < 0.01). The localization and quantification of p-p53 expression in immunohistochemistry technology also support the aforementioned results. In conclusion, our data also suggest that Chuanxiong and Dahuang may inhibit tubular epithelial cell apoptosis and improve acute kidney injury and renal fibrosis by inhibiting p38 MAPK/p53 signaling.

Background: Renal repair is closely related to the prognosis of acute kidney injury (AKI) and has attracted increasing attention in the research field. However, there is a lack of a comprehensive bibliometric analysis in this research area. This study aims at exploring the current status and hotspots of renal repair research in AKI from the perspective of bibliometrics.Methods: Studies published between 2002 and 2022 related to kidney repair after AKI were collected from Web of Science core collection (WoSCC) database. Bibliometric measurement and knowledge graph analysis to predict the latest research trends in the field were performed using bibliometrics software CiteSpace and VOSviewer.Results: The number of documents related to kidney repair after AKI has steadily increased over 20 years. The United States and China contribute more than 60% of documents and are the main drivers of research in this field. Harvard University is the most active academic institution that contributes the most documents. Humphreys BD and Bonventre JV are the most prolific authors and co-cited authors in the field. The American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology and Journal of the American Society of Nephrology are the most popular journals in the field with the greatest number of documents. “exosome”, “macrophage polarization”, “fibroblast”, and” aki-ckd transition” are high-frequency keywords in this field in recent years. Extracellular vesicles (including exosomes), macrophage polarization, cell cycle arrest, hippo pathway, and sox9 are current research hotspots and potential targets in this field.Conclusion: This is the first comprehensive bibliometric study on the knowledge structure and development trend of AKI-related renal repair research in recent years. The results of the study comprehensively summarize and identify research frontiers in AKI-related renal repair.

Drug-induced acute kidney injury (DI-AKI) is one of the leading causes of kidney injury, is associated with high mortality and morbidity, and limits the clinical use of certain therapeutic or diagnostic agents, such as antineoplastic drugs, antibiotics, immunosuppressants, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and contrast media. In recent years, numerous studies have shown that many Chinese meteria medica, metabolites derived from botanical drugs, and Chinese medicinal formulas confer protective effects against DI-AKI by targeting a variety of cellular or molecular mechanisms, such as oxidative stress, inflammatory, cell necrosis, apoptosis, and autophagy. This review summarizes the research status of common DI-AKI with Chinese meteria medica interventions, including cisplatin, gentamicin, contrast agents, methotrexate, and acetaminophen. At the same time, this review introduces the metabolites with application prospects represented by ginseng saponins, tetramethylpyrazine, panax notoginseng saponins, and curcumin. Overall, this review provides a reference for the development of promising nephroprotectants.

Abstract Background Given the increasing rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), recurrent urinary tract infection (rUTI) is becoming refractory more and more. Antibiotic prophylaxis including continuous low-dose antibiotic therapy (CLAT), is the common treatment for rUTI of the world. However, the presumably adverse reactions caused by CLAT alone should be paid more attention. Studies indicated that Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) might be an available treatment method for rUTI. Tailin formulation (TLF) is a herbal prescription developed for the treatment of rUTI in the 2000s in Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Our previous studies have shown TLF could prevent urinary tract infection both in pyelonephritis (PN) rat model and in PN patients. Additionally, our published data demonstrated TLF is helpful to reduce the recurrence of rUTI and protect renal tubular function in clinic. In order to find a novel treating project for rUTI to increase the clinical curative effect, we thus try to combine TLF with CLAT to treat rUTI and design an optimized, pragmatically clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of this project. Methods/design This is a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial. We will enroll 200 eligible patients diagnosed with uncomplicated rUTI and then divide them randomly into two groups with a 1:1 ratio: TLF + CLAT group and placebo + CLAT group. This trial consists of two stages, a 12-week period of treatment and a 12-week period of post-treatment follow-up, respectively. The primary outcome will be the recurrence rate at the 12th week of the follow-up period; the second outcomes will be the post-treatment changes in renal and liver function; furthermore, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) symptoms, non-infection-related physical signs, and subjective symptoms will be scored, and the number of episodes of each subject will be also recorded; meanwhile, vital signs indicators and serious adverse events (SAEs) will be monitored throughout the trial. Discussion This study will provide convictive research-derived data to evaluate clinical efficacy and safety of TLF combined with CLAT for rUTI, and provide an evidence-based recommendation for clinicians. Moreover, post-treatment changes in non-infection-related physical signs and subjective symptoms were included in the efficacy evaluation, which is important and more significant for assessing the clinical benefits for those rUTI patients. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2100041914 . Registered on 10 January 2021. Protocol date and version: September 12, 2020; version 1.

Lack of effective drugs for acute kidney injury (AKI) grades 1–2 is a crucial challenge in clinic. Our previously single-center clinical studies indicated Chuan Huang Fang (CHF) might have nephroprotection in AKI on chronic kidney disease (CKD) (A on C) patients by preventing oxidant damage and inhibiting inflammation. Reduced glutathione (RG) has recently been shown to increase the clinical effectiveness of high-flux hemodialysis among patients with severe AKI. In this multicenter randomized controlled clinical study, we designed a new protocol to assess the efficacy and safety of CHF combining RG in patients with A on C. We also explored therapeutic mechanisms from renal fibrosis biomarkers. 98 participants were randomly and equally divided into the RG and RG + CHF subgroups. The RG and RG + CHF groups received general treatments with RG and a combination of RG and CHF, respectively. The therapy lasted for 2 weeks. In this study, the primary assessment result was a difference in the slope of serum creatinine (Scr) over the course of 2 weeks. The secondary evaluation outcomes were alterations in blood urea nitrogen (BUN), uric acid (UA), estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), urinary AKI biomarkers, renal fibrosis biomarkers (transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF)), and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) symptoms. Furthermore, vital signs and adverse events (AEs) were observed. Both groups had a slower renal function decline after treatment than before treatment. Compared with RG group, more reductions of Scr, BUN, UA, and better improvement of eGFR were observed in RG + CHF group (p < 0.05). Additionally, the levels of urinary AKI biomarkers, renal fibrosis biomarkers, and TCM syndromes were decreased in RG + CHF group versus RG group (p < 0.05). No significant between-group differences were observed of AEs. We thus concluded this novel therapy of CHF combining RG might be a useful method for treating A on C patients.

Persistent inflammation associated with recurrent urinary tract infection (rUTI) is a crucial inducement of inflammation-driven renal fibrosis (IDRF). Although continuous low-dose antibiotic therapy (CLAT) is the common treatment for rUTI, its clinical efficacy remains unsatisfactory. Tailin formulation (TLF), a Chinese herbal formulation prescribed for treating rUTI, is effective in alleviating symptoms and reducing recurrence. This study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of TLF combined with CLAT compared with CLAT used alone in patients with rUTI. In this multicenter, randomized, controlled clinical trial, patients were assigned (1:1) to receive either TLF + CLAT or CLAT for 12 weeks. The primary outcome was the effective rate at week 12 of the treatment. The secondary outcomes were the recurrent rate at week 4 and week 12 post treatment; the post-treatment changes in renal tubular injury markers (urinary N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase (NAG) and β2-microglobulin (β2-MG)), profibrotic factors (urinary monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-β1)), and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) symptoms, and vital signs indicators and serious adverse events (SAEs) were also monitored throughout the trial. A total of 195 patients were included in the final analysis. The TLF + CLAT group had a higher effective rate and a lower recurrence rate than the CLAT group (p < 0.01). Significant decrease of urinary NAG and β2-MG was observed in the TLF + CLAT group vs. CLAT group (p < 0.01), and similar changes were observed in profibrotic factors (urinary MCP-1 and TGF-β1) (p < 0.05), which indicated that TLF might have potential renal tubular protection and anti-fibrosis effects. Additionally, a positive correlation within a certain range was shown in the correlation analysis of medical history (months) of rUTI patients with urinary MCP-1 (r = 0.50, p < 0.05) and TGF-β1 (r = 0.78, p < 0.01). A significant difference was also observed in TCM symptoms (p < 0.01). There were no obvious adverse reactions that occurred during this study. We conclude that TLF combined with CLAT was superior to CLAT used alone in reducing rUTI recurrence, alleviating the non-infection-related physical symptoms and protecting renal tubular and anti-fibrosis, which suggests this novel therapy might be an available treatment with great promise in treating rUTI.

Lanthanide ions are extensively utilized in optoelectronic materials, owing to their narrow emission bandwidth, prolonged lifetime, and elevated fluorescence quantum yield. Inorganic non-metallic materials commonly serve as host matrices for lanthanide complexes, posing noteworthy challenges regarding loading quantity and fluorescence performance stability post-loading. In this investigation, an enhanced Stöber method was employed to synthesize mesoporous hollow silica, and diverse forms of SiO2@Eu(TTA)3phen (S@Eu) were successfully prepared. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) outcomes revealed the effective binding of silica with Eu(TTA)3phen through both physical adsorption and chemical bonding. This includes the formation of Si-O-C bonds between silica and the ligand, as well as Si-O-Eu bonds between silica and europium ions. Fluorescence tests demonstrated that the mesoporous SiO2@Eu(TTA)3phen(MS@Eu) composite exhibited the highest fluorescence intensity among the three structured silica composites, with a notable enhancement of 46.60% compared to the normal SiO2@Eu(TTA)3phen composite. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis indicated that the specific surface area plays a crucial role in influencing the fluorescence intensity of SiO2@Eu(TTA)3phen, whereby the prepared mesoporous hollow silica further elevated the fluorescence intensity by 61.49%. Moreover, SiO2@Eu(TTA)3phen demonstrated 11.11% greater cyclic stability, heightened thermal stability, and enhanced alkaline resistance relative to SiO2@Eu(TTA)3phen.

As an increasing public health concern worldwide, acute kidney injury (AKI) is characterized by rapid deterioration of kidney function. Although continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) could be used to treat severe AKI, effective drug treatment methods for AKI are largely lacking. Tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) is an active ingredient of Chinese herb Ligusticum wallichii (Chuan Xiong) with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory functions. In recent years, more and more clinical and experimental studies suggest that TMP might effectively prevent AKI. The present article reviews the potential mechanisms of TMP against AKI. Through search and review, a total of 23 studies were finally included. Our results indicate that the undergoing mechanisms of TMP preventing AKI are mainly related to reducing oxidative stress injury, inhibiting inflammation, preventing apoptosis of intrinsic renal cells, and regulating autophagy. Meanwhile, given that AKI and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are very tightly linked by each other, and AKI is also an important inducement of CKD, we thus summarized the potential of TMP impeding the progression of CKD through anti-renal fibrosis.

The macromorphic properties of carbon nanotubes perform poorly because of their size limitations: nanosize in diameters and microsize in length. In this work, to realize these dual purposes, we first used an electrochemical method to tear the surface of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to anchor photonic Eu3+-complexes there. Through the polar reactive groups endowed by the tearing, the Eu3+-complexes coordinate at the defected structures, obtaining the Eu3+-complex-anchored, unzipped, multiwalled carbon nanotubes (E-uMWCNTs). The controllable surface-breaking retains the MWCNTs’ original, excellent mechanical properties. Then, to obtain the macromorphic structure with infinitely long fibers, a wet-spinning process was applied via the binding of a small quantity of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Thus, the wet-spun fibers with high contents of E-uMWCNTs (E-uMWCNT-Fs) were produced, in which the E-uMWCNTs took 33.3 wt%, a high ratio in E-uMWCNT-Fs. On the other hand, due to the reinforcing effect of E-uMWCNTs, the highest tensile strength can reach 228.2 MPa for E-uMWCNT-Fs. Meanwhile, the E-uMWCNT-Fs show high-efficiency photoluminescence and excellent media resistance performance due to the embedding effect of PVA on the E-uMWCNTs. Therefore, E-uMWCNT-Fs can exhibit excellent luminescence properties in aqueous solutions at pH 4~12 and in some high-concentration metal-ion solutions. Those distinguished performances promise outstanding innovations of this work.

Abstract Background Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is one of the most common potentially life-threatening inherited kidney diseases. It is the fourth most common cause of end-stage renal disease requiring renal replacement therapy. There are few management options for controlling disease progression. Hence, identification of alternative treatments for patients is important. The Chinese herbal yinang formulation (YNF), which is derived from a Chinese patent medicine, appears to have a satisfactory effect in treating ADPKD. Because a considerable proportion of ADPKD patients presenting with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages III–IV are diagnosed with the spleen, kidney deficiency, and blood stasis syndrome according to the diagnostic criteria of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), we hypothesize that YNF may be a complementary drug for ADPKD patients with the corresponding syndrome. Therefore, we have designed a strict clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of YNF for ADPKD patients with CKD stages III–IV exhibiting the TCM syndrome of spleen, kidney deficiency, and blood stasis. Methods/design This is a multi-center prospective double-blind randomized controlled trial. The total target sample size is planned to be 72 participants, with a balanced treatment allocation (1:1). The experimental intervention will be YNF plus conventional therapy and the control intervention will be a placebo plus conventional therapy for 24 weeks. An additional 24 weeks of follow-up will be conducted after treatment completion. The primary outcome will be the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Changes in total kidney volume (TKV), serum creatinine (Scr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), TCM symptoms, and pain will be the secondary outcomes. Adverse events (AEs) will be monitored throughout the trial. Discussion This study will be the first placebo-controlled randomized controlled trial to assess whether YNF plus conventional therapy has a beneficial effect on eGFR, TKV, Scr, and BUN, and whether it can alleviate TCM clinical symptoms, reduce ADPKD-related pain, and reduce the frequency of AEs for ADPKD patients with CKD stages III–IV with the spleen, kidney deficiency, and blood stasis syndrome. The results of this trial may provide an evidence-based recommendation for clinicians. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trials Register, ChiCTR-INR-16009914. Registered on 18 November 2016.

The supercapacitor has been widely seen as one of the most promising emerging energy storage devices, by which electricity is converted from chemical energy and stored. Two-dimensional (2D) metal oxides/hydroxides (TMOs/TMHs) are revolutionizing the design of high-performance supercapacitors because of their high theoretical specific capacitance, abundance of electrochemically active sites, and feasibility for assembly in hierarchical structures by integrating with graphitic carbon, conductive polymers, and so on. The hierarchical structures achieved can not only overcome the limitations of using a single material but also bring new breakthroughs in performance. In this article, the research progress on 2D TMOs/TMHs and their use in hierarchical structures as supercapacitor materials are reviewed, including the evolution of supercapacitor materials, the configurations of hierarchical structures, the electrical properties regulated, and the existence of advantages and drawbacks. Finally, a perspective covering directions and challenges related to the development of supercapacitor materials is provided.

A hybrid polymer of SiO2@Tb3+(poly(ethylene terephthalate)-tetraglycol)3 phenanthroline (SiO2@Tb3+(PET−TEG)3Phen) was synthesized by mixing of inorganic SiO2 nanoparticles with polymeric segments of PET−TEG, whereas PET−TEG was achieved through multi-step functionalization strategy. Tb3+ ions and β-diketonate ligand Phen were added in resulting material. The experimental results demonstrated that it was well blended with PET as a robust additive, and not only promoted the crystallinity, but also possessed excellent luminescence properties. An investigation of the mechanism revealed that the SiO2 nanoparticles functioned as a crystallization promotor; the Tb3+ acted as the fluorescent centre; and the PET−TEG segments played the role of linker and buffer, providing better compatibility of PET matrix with the inorganic component. This work demonstrated that hybrid polymers are appealing as multifunctional additives in the polymer processing and polymer luminescence field.

Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is a leading cause of hospital-acquired acute kidney injury (AKI). Recently, ferroptosis was reported to be crucial for AKI pathogenesis. Our previous studies indicated antioxidant tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) prevent CIN in vivo. However, whether ferroptosis is involved in TMP nephroprotective mechanism against CIN is unclear. In the present study, we investigated the role of renal tubular epithelial cell ferroptosis in TMP reno-protective effect against CIN and the molecular mechanisms by which TMP regulates ferroptosis. Classical contrast-medium, Iohexol, was used to construct CIN models in rats and HK-2 cells. Results showed that tubular cell injury was accompanied by ferroptosis both in vivo and in vitro, including the typical features of ferroptosis, Fe2+ accumulation, lipid peroxidation and decreased glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4). Ferroptosis inhibition by classic inhibitors Fer-1 and DFO promoted cell viability and reduced intracellular ROS production. Additionally, TMP significantly inhibited renal dysfunction, reduced AKI biomarkers, prevented ROS production, inhibited renal Fe2+ accumulation and increased GPX4 expression. Expressions of various proteins associated with iron ion metabolism, including transferrin receptor (TFRC), divalent metal transporter 1, iron-responsive element binding protein 2, ferritin heavy chain 1, ferroportin 1, and heat shock factor binding protein 1, were examined using mechanistic analyses. Among these, TFRC changes were the most significant after TMP pretreatment. Results of siRNA knockdown and plasmid overexpression of TFRC indicated that TFRC is essential for TMP to alleviate ferroptosis and reduce LDH release, Fe2+ accumulation and intracellular ROS. Our findings provide crucial insights about the potential of TMP in treating AKI associated with ferroptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]