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To reveal the mechanism of anti-renal fibrosis effects of an n-butanol extract from Amygdalus mongolica, renal fibrosis was induced with unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) and then treated with an n-butanol extract (BUT) from Amygdalus mongolica (Rosaceae). Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into the sham-operated, renal fibrosis (RF) model, benazepril hydrochloride-treated model (1.5 mg kg−1) and BUT-treated (1.75, 1.5 and 1.25 g kg−1) groups and the respective drugs were administered intragastrically for 21 days. Related biochemical indices in rat serum were determined and histopathological morphology observed. Serum metabolomics was assessed with HPLC-Q-TOF-MS. The BUT reduced levels of blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine and albumin and lowered the content of malondialdehyde and hydroxyproline in tissues. The activity of superoxide dismutase in tissues was increased and an improvement in the severity of RF was observed. Sixteen possible biomarkers were identified by metabolomic analysis and six key metabolic pathways, including the TCA cycle and tyrosine metabolism, were analyzed. After treatment with the extract, 8, 12 and 9 possible biomarkers could be detected in the high-, medium- and low-dose groups, respectively. Key biomarkers of RF, identified using metabolomics, were most affected by the medium dose. A. mongolica BUT extract displays a protective effect on RF in rats and should be investigated as a candidate drug for the treatment of the disease.

Based on the approach of left and right kernel smoothing with unilateral kernel function, we, in this paper, define estimators of change point and jump size in nonparametric regression model with response missing at random. It is shown that the change point estimator is n-consistent and converges to the smallest maximizer of one-dimensional bilateral compound Poisson process, the jump size estimator is asymptotically normal. A simulation study is conducted to investigate the finite sample behavior for the proposed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we focus on the left-truncated and right-censored model, and construct the local linear and Nadaraya-Watson type estimators of the conditional density. Under suitable conditions, we establish the asymptotic normality of the proposed estimators when the observations are assumed to be a stationary α-mixing sequence. Finite sample behavior of the estimators is investigated via simulations too. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By means of Enzyme Linked Immunosorhent Assay (ELISA), this paper analyzed the contents of endogenous hormones ABA, IAA, ZR, and GA3 in Reaumuria trigyna and its related congener R. soongorica from four different salt habitats. In the identical habitats, the contents of growth-promoting hormones IAA, ZR, and GA3 in R. trigyna were lower than those in R. soongorica, while the content of growth-suppressing hormone ABA was in contrary, which could be one of the main reasons that R. trigyna had a weaker ecological adaptability than R. soongorica. The (IAA+ZR+GA3) /ABA in wild R. trigyna varied with habitats, being saline soil > non-salinized soil > heavy solonchack, which was consistent with the density and coverage of R. trigyna population being the largest on saline soil and followed by on non-salinized soil and heavy solonchack, and suggested that R. trigyna having lived in saline habitat for a long time developed a corresponding inherent adaptation mechanism, and that the integrative regulation of endogenous hormones under salt stress played a key role for the growth and development of R. trigyna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renal fibrosis (RF) is a chronic and fatal disease related to the gradual deterioration of kidney function. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a key role in cellular functions and several of them related to the pathogenesis of RF have been identified, although the underlying mechanisms are unclear. In order to explore the miRNAs involved in RF progression, we established a model in rats by the unilateral ureteral ligation method. The animals were randomly divided into the control group, and the 2 week, 4 week and 6 week model groups. The indices of renal function were measured using routine biochemical assays. The differentially expressed miRNAs (DE-miRNAs) between the sham-operated and modelled rats were screened, and their putative target genes were identified using the miRanda software and functionally annotated by Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses. The expression of transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1), Smad3 and Smad7 was confirmed by RT-PCR. Compared to the sham-operated group, the model groups showed a decrease in SOD activity, along with the increased renal coefficient, and higher MDA, HYP, Scr, BUN and ALB levels. In addition, TGF-β1, Smad3 and Smad7 were also upregulated in the RF groups. We identified 274 known and 11 novel DE-miRNAs in the 2 week, 114 known and 6 novel DE-miRNAs in the 4 week, and 41 known and 1 novel DE-miRNAs in the 6 week model groups. The putative target genes of these DE-miRNAs were enriched in metabolic processes, apoptosis, pyrimidine metabolism, and TNF and VEGF signalling pathways. Based on our findings, we surmise that miR-146a-3p, miR-148a-3p, miR-130a-5p, miR-362-3p and miR-122-5p are likely to be involved in the occurrence and development of RF, and miR-122-5p may play an inhibitory role. The underlying mechanisms need further investigation.