Albumin-to-fibrinogen ratio is an independent predictor of corticosteroid response and prognosis in patients with IgA nephropathy.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to investigate whether the albumin-to-fibrinogen ratio (AFR) can predict corticosteroid response and prognosis prediction among IgA nephropathy (IgAN) patients. METHODS: Eligible participants with diagnosed IgAN who were scheduled to receive corticosteroid therapy for persistent proteinuria were recruited. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the predictive value of AFR or estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) for corticosteroid response in IgAN patients. Risk factors for corticosteroid response and prognosis were validated using univariate and multivariate Cox proportional analyses. RESULTS: AFR and eGFR were both effective predictors of corticosteroid response in IgAN patients, with area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.686 and 0.643, respectively (P < 0.001 and P = 0.002). Baseline AFR level at biopsy was an independent risk factor for remission after corticosteroid therapy (HR: 2.38, 95% CI 1.32-4.07, P = 0.015), 50% decline in eGFR (HR: 0.78, 95% CI 0.69-0.89, P = 0.025), kidney failure (HR: 2.46, 95%CI 1.16-3.71, P = 0.016), and a composite event (HR: 2.13, 95%CI 1.28-3.34, P = 0.009) in IgAN patients. CONCLUSIONS: AFR level at biopsy was a potential predictor of corticosteroid response and prognosis among IgAN patients.

Bamboo-derived carboxymethyl cellulose for liquid film as renewable and biodegradable agriculture mulching.

Mulching has been extensively sought after in modern agriculture. However, massive utilization of plastics for mulching has induced severe environmental concerns. Developing biodegradable mulch thus represents an emerging need for future agriculture. By using bamboo-derived carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), this study proposed a crosslinking strategy to prepare liquid film as quality mulch. CMC was synthesized by delignifying bamboo and etherifying resultant cellulose, which was then blended with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and crosslinked by glutaraldehyde to prepare a liquid film. By simply spraying on soil, mulch can quickly form on soil surface. Especially, bamboo-timber derived mulch had strong mechanical property (18.2 MPa), good transmittance (74.2%) and moisture absorption (141%), and excellent soil moisture retention. More importantly, about 64% of used mulches were biodegraded within 60-d after burring in soil, which will not need post-handling. These results highlighted that bamboo-derived mulch can be an alternative of current plastic mulch to tackle associated environmental pollution.