Peritoneal transport rate,systemic inflammation,and residual renal function determine peritoneal protein clearance in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients

Background

Peritoneal protein clearance (Pcl) is related to the mortality of patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) as well as technique failure. In this prospective observational study, we aimed to investigate factors associated with the level of Pcl.

Methods

We prospectively enrolled 344 prevalent CAPD patients. A standard peritoneal equilibrium test was conducted for each patient. Baseline demographics, biochemistry, and Pcl were recorded.

Results

The average Pcl of the patients was 97.40 ± 54.14 mL/day. Peritoneal transport level, serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), and residual glomerular filtration rate (rGFR) were independently related to Pcl. The standard β values were 0.53, 0.17, and ?0.10, respectively. Moreover, compared with non-diabetic patients, diabetic patients had a non-significantly higher level of Pcl (104.90 ± 48.65 vs. 96.15 ± 54.97 mL/day; P = 0.06).

Conclusion

Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients lose a high amount of protein through the peritoneum each day. The Pcl value is positively related to the level of peritoneal transport and hsCRP and negatively related to the rGFR.     

The true stone composition and abnormality of urinary metabolic lithogenic factors of rats fed diets containing melamine

To better understand the toxicity of melamine to humans, the stone composition and urinary metabolic lithogenic factors of rats fed diets containing melamine including the infant’s melamine-induced stone composition were studied. Sixty 4-week-old male rats divided into three groups were, respectively, fed diets containing no melamine (control), 0.1 % melamine, and 1 % melamine for 4 weeks. At the end of experiment, the collected stones and 24-h urines from rats were, respectively, measured with compositions and metabolic lithogenic parameters. The stone from an infant who ingested melamine-adulterated formula was also included in compositional analysis. Across three groups, the stone was only detected in 1 % melamine group, with composition of almost melamine different from the affected infant’s stone composed of melamine and uric acid with a ratio of 1:2. Compared with control group, urine calcium and phosphate excretions were significantly increased in 1 % melamine group. Urine uric acid excretion was significantly increased but citrate excretion was significantly decreased in 0.1?% and 1?% melamine groups. Urine oxalate excretion and pH were indicated without any significant difference. In addition based on urine physicochemical characters, melamine–uric acid stone seems difficult to be formed in the rats due to their characters of urine high-pH and low-uric acid. These results demonstrated that (1) the stone composition of rats fed melamine was not and could not be as that of infants fed melamine-adulterated formula, two species had a different mechanism of melamine-induced stone formation; (2) the exposure of melamine could result in abnormalities of urine metabolic lithogenic factors to rats, perhaps as well as human beings.     

Does a thoracoscopic approach provide better outcomes for pulmonary metastases?

Traditional open thoracotomy (OT) is the gold standard treatment for patients with pulmonary metastases. However, it remains controversial whether video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) can provide comparable outcomes to OT. We conducted this review to compare the outcomes of VATS with OT in pulmonary metastasectomy (PM). Relevant studies published up to November 2019 were identified from PubMed data base and screened. Studies were then selected by the researchers based on our selection criteria. Data including the type of study, patient groups, outcomes and key results were extracted from the included studies and summarized. Screening of 2,788 papers identified 9 that were relevant to our research question. The authors, dates of publication, journal details, type of study, patient groups, outcomes and key results from these papers were summarized. All 9 studies documented the survival rate (1-, 3- and 5-year survival). Metastases from colorectal cancer were investigated in three studies, and metastases from sarcoma were investigated in one study. The overall survival rate of VATS was not inferior to that of OT in patients with pulmonary metastases. VATS was also associated with better perioperative results compared with OT. In conclusion, VATS is suitable as an alternative surgical technique for PM.     

我国不同地区阿片类镇痛药物在癌痛治疗中的使用情况及个人经济负担

摘 要 目的：了解我国不同地区阿片类镇痛药的使用情况与趋势,评估癌痛治疗吗啡临床需要量及满足临床需要的程度,评价个人药费可负担性,为我国合理使用阿片类镇痛药,提高癌痛控制水平和患者生活质量提出政策建议。方法：采用回顾性分析方法,分析2006~2016年我国7个片区的阿片类镇痛药使用强度（MUD）及其各阶段年复合增长率（CAGR）。基于我国7个片区肿瘤登记数据和国际疼痛标准治疗指南,测算2015年不同地区的吗啡需要量。将药品价格以DDD值标化为限定日费用(DDC),采用改进后的WHO/HAI标准调查法评价阿片类镇痛药用于癌痛治疗的个人药费可负担性。结果：全国MUD从2006年的1.45DDD/10万人天增长至2016年的6.93DDD/10万人天,整体增长率呈现为前高后低。不同地区间MUD差异较大,且MUD极差有逐年加大趋势。2016年MUD最大地区为华南（9.67DDD/10万人天）,最小为西北（3.28DDD/10万人天）。2015年,全国吗啡等效当量实际使用量仅占癌痛治疗吗啡需要量的21.5%,华东（26%）和华南（36%）等地区高于西南（11%）和西北（12%）。各类阿片类镇痛药的DDC范围为10.80～848.88元,除吗啡注射剂外,其余药品的疗程自付费用均大于1 d的日均可支配收入。结论：我国阿片类镇痛药用于癌痛治疗整体使用不足,且不同经济水平的地区使用差异较大,癌痛患者长期使用镇痛药物治疗的个人药费负担较重。应全面加快推行癌痛规范化治疗示范病房和疼痛门诊,完善相应保障体系,合理引导广大城乡居民可负担的癌痛治疗药品价格,降低个人费用负担,提高癌症患者生存质量,使更多癌痛患者得到经济有效的治疗。     

Collision malignant melanoma and medullary carcinoma of the thyroid

This report presents the case of a 54‐year‐old woman with a collision tumour of malignant melanoma and medullary thyroid carcinoma in the thyroid. Twenty four of 25 neck lymph nodes contained metastatic melanoma, with the rest having both metastatic melanoma and medullary carcinoma. Systemic chemotherapy was administered for the malignant melanoma, and a complete response was thus obtained. However, just after having the chemotherapy, multiple lung and brain metastases emerged. The simultaneous occurrence of malignant melanoma and medullary carcinoma in the same thyroid has not been previously reported in the literature. Collision tumour of malignant melanoma and medullary carcinoma of the thyroid might imply bad prognosis.     

Comparing algorithms for deriving psychosis diagnoses from longitudinal administrative clinical records

Purpose

Registers derived from administrative datasets are valuable tools in psychosis research, but diagnostic accuracy can be problematic. We sought to compare the relative performance of four methods for assigning a single diagnosis from longitudinal administrative clinical records when compared with reference diagnoses.

Methods

Diagnoses recorded in inpatient and community mental health records were compared to research diagnoses of psychotic disorders obtained from semi-structured clinical interviews for 289 persons. Diagnoses were derived from administrative datasets using four algorithms; ‘At least one’ diagnosis, ‘Last’ or most recent diagnosis, ‘Modal’ or most frequently occurring diagnosis, and ‘Hierarchy’ in which a diagnostic hierarchy was applied. Agreements between algorithm-based and reference diagnoses for overall presence/absence of psychosis and for specific diagnoses of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and affective psychosis were examined using estimated prevalence rates, overall agreement, ROC analysis, and kappa statistics.

Results

For the presence/absence of psychosis, the most sensitive and least specific algorithm (‘At least one’ diagnosis) performed best. For schizophrenia, ‘Modal’ and ‘Last’ diagnoses had greatest agreement with reference diagnosis. For affective psychosis, ‘Hierarchy’ diagnosis performed best. Agreement between clinical and reference diagnoses was no better than chance for diagnoses of schizoaffective disorder. Overall agreement between administrative and reference diagnoses was modest, but may have been limited by the use of participants who had been screened for likely psychosis prior to assessment.

Conclusion

The choice of algorithm for extracting a psychosis diagnosis from administrative datasets may have a substantial impact on the accuracy of the diagnoses derived. An ‘Any diagnosis’ algorithm provides a sensitive measure for the presence of any psychosis, while ‘Last diagnosis’ is more accurate for specific diagnosis of schizophrenia and a hierarchical diagnosis is more accurate for affective psychosis.     

Effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor,captopril, on bone of mice with streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetes

There are contradictory results about the effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) on bone. This study was performed to address the skeletal renin?angiotensin system (RAS) activity and the effects of the ACEI, captopril, on the bone of streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetic mice. Histochemical assessment on bone paraffin sections was conducted by Safranin O staining and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase staining. Micro-computed tomography was performed to analyze bone biological parameters. Gene and protein expression were determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunoblotting, respectively. Type 1 diabetic mice displayed osteopenia phenotype and captopril treatment showed no osteoprotective effects in diabetic mice as shown by the reduction of bone mineral density, trabecular thickness and bone volume/total volume. The mRNA expression of ACE and renin receptor, and the protein expression of renin and angiotensin II were markedly up-regulated in the bone of vehicle-treated diabetic mice compared to those of non-diabetic mice, and these molecular changes of skeletal RAS components were effectively inhibited by treatment with captopril. However, treatment with captopril significantly elevated serum tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b levels, reduced the ratio of osteoprotegerin/receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand expression, increased carbonic anhydrase II mRNA expression and the number of matured osteoclasts and decreased transforming growth factor-β and osteocalcin mRNA expression in the tibia compared to those of diabetic mice. The present study demonstrated that the use of the ACEI, captopril, has no beneficial effect on the skeletal biological properties of diabetic mice. However, this could be attributed, at least partially, to its suppression of osteogenesis and stimulation of osteoclastogenesis, even though it could effectively inhibit high activity of local RAS in the bone of diabetic mice.     

Interleukin-33 alleviates psoriatic inflammation by suppressing the T helper type 17 immune response

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease with unclear pathogenesis. Interleukin-33 (IL-33) is highly expressed in patients with psoriasis, but its role in psoriasis is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible role of IL-33 in the pathogenesis and treatment of psoriasis. IL-33 expression was determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemical staining. CD4⁺ T cells were sorted using magnetic beads and treated with or without IL-33. Imiquimod (IMQ) was used to induce psoriatic inflammation in mice. The frequency of immune cells was determined using flow cytometry. The cytokine level in mouse skin was measured using cytometric bead array. Our results showed that IL-33 was highly expressed in the lesional skin and serum of patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. IL-33 inhibited the expression of IL-17 in CD4⁺ T cells of psoriasis patients. Subcutaneous injection of IL-33 alleviated the IMQ-induced psoriatic inflammation in mice, reduced tumor necrosis factor-α and IL-23 expression, and decreased the proportion of T helper type 17 (Th17) cells in the skin-draining lymph nodes in the mice. Our results suggest that IL-33 plays a protective role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis by suppressing Th17 cell differentiation and function. The potential therapeutic effect of IL-33 in treating psoriasis warrants further investigation.