Effect of Rituximab on 24-Hour Urine Protein and Albumin or Renal Function in Patients with Glomerulonephritis.

This study aimed to investigate the correlation between the urine protein/creatinine ratio (PCR) and 24 h urine total protein quantity (24hUTP) in morning and random urine and its prediction equation. Rituximab (RTX), a monoclonal antibody that acts on the B cell epitope CD20, has been used in the renal field since 2005 and has become a hot topic in the clinical treatment of many glomerulonephritis diseases. Apart from focusing on the safety and efficacy of RTX in clinical treatment, some scholars are still working on the mechanism of its action in the treatment of renal diseases, trying to find its specific targets in renal tissues. Results. There was no significant difference between morning urine PCR, random urine PCR, and 24hUTP (P=0.81); there was a significant positive correlation between morning urine PCR and 24hUTP (r = 0.90, P < 0.01) and between random urine PCR and 24hUTP (r = 0.95, P < 0.01), and the correlation between random urine PCR and 24hUTP was higher than that between morning urine PCR and 24hUTP. The results of the ROC curve analysis showed that the correlation between morning urine PCR, random urine PCR, and 24hUTP was higher than that between morning urine PCR and 24hUTP in different groups. The optimal threshold values for random urine PCR to predict 2.4hUTP were 0.56 g/g (sensitivity 93.5%; specificity 75.4%), 1.11 g/g (sensitivity 98.3%; specificity 92.4%), and 3.43 g/g (sensitivity 87.9%; specificity 89.9%), respectively. The equations for predicting 24hUTP by morning urine PCR and random urine PCR were as follows: (1) 24hUTP(g) = 0.793 + 0.793 × morning urine PCR + 0.124 × total cholesterol - 0.177 × Alb (coefficient of determination R 2 = 0.87); (2) 24hUTP(g) = 0.369 + 0.856 × random urine PCR + 0.132 × total cholesterol - 0.092 × Alb (coefficient of determination R 2 = 0.92); the prediction equation of random urine was more accurate than that of morning urine. The correlation was not affected by gender, age, 24 h urine volume, etiology, eGFR, Alb, or total cholesterol level, and the correlation between random urine PCR and 24hUTP was higher than that of morning urine PCR. CR prediction equation was used instead of the 24hUTP test.

Differences in Leukocyte Telomere Length between Coronary Heart Disease and Normal Population: A Multipopulation Meta-Analysis.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the most common causes of death in the world. Numerous studies have shown that as the degree of atherosclerotic disease increases, leukocyte telomere length gradually decreases. Short telomeres increase the risk of all-cause death and cardiovascular death. However, the reported results are not consistent, since the experimental design method, the measurement method, and the disease outcome are different. Therefore, we searched five major literature databases (Pubmed, Web of science, Embase, CNKI, and Wangfang) and finally included 18 eligible articles (including 5,150 patients with CHD and 9341 controls). We found that telomere length in patients with CHD was significantly shorter than that in controls, and the telomere length was inversely correlated with the severity of CHD. Subgroup analysis showed that telomere shortening was the most significant in Asian patients with CHD, in CHD patients with an average age <65 years, and in men with CHD. The mechanism of shortening the telomere length leading to the occurrence and development of CHD is worthy of further study.