Models of sepsis-induced acute kidney injury.

Sepsis-induced acute kidney injury (S-AKI) is one of the most serious life-threatening complications of sepsis. The pathogenesis of S-AKI is complex and there is no effective specific treatment. Therefore, it is crucial to choose suitable preclinical models that are highly similar to human S-AKI to study the pathogenesis and drug treatment. In this review, we summarized recent advances in the development models of S-AKI, providing reference for the reasonable selection of experimental models as basic research and drug development of S-AKI.

Pulmonary microbial spectrum in late-stage SARS-CoV-2 infection: a case series.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a kind of respiratory disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), primarily spreads through the respiratory tract from human to human. Its extensive and rapid spread has led to a global pandemic, causing great harm to human health and economic development all over the world. Current known evidence indicates that SARS-CoV-2 has evolved accumulating multiple mutations, with altered infectivity and viral replication capacity. A better understanding of the complications of COVID-19 and its relationship with underlying diseases is crucial for the prevention and treatment of SARS-CoV-2. This case series reviewed case data of our 4 recent patients with severe or critical COVID-19, including treatment plan, status of pulmonary infection and their microbiology workup with metagenomic next-generation sequencing with bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. This report shed light on the significance of rapid and accurate clinical diagnosis and treatment on COVID-19.

Treatment of idiopathic oligozoospermia with recombinant human follicle-stimulating hormone: a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study in Chinese population.

OBJECTIVE: Follicle-stimulating hormone plays a crucial role in spermatogenesis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of treatment with FSH in Chinese infertility population. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study. PATIENTS: A total of 354 men affected by idiopathic oligozoospermia from three medical centres. MEASUREMENTS: This study contained three parts: (i) treatment with different doses of rhFSH (50 IU, 100 IU, 200 IU and 300 IU); (ii) the efficacy of rhFSH at different periods (2, 3, 4, 5 months); (iii) FSH treatment in patients with different levels of inhibin B (normal-level group, low-level group and high-level group). Semen parameters were evaluated in all subjects. The patients who had not reached spontaneous pregnancy underwent assisted reproductive techniques. RESULTS: Sperm number was significantly increased after treatment with FSH at doses of at least 200 IU, and the improvement was observed beginning at the third month. The significant improvement in both morphology and forward motility was observed beginning at the fifth month. Moreover, 300 IU rhFSH administration for 5 months could significantly improve the spontaneous pregnancy rate (12/40) and ART pregnancy rate (14/28), while the rates for placebo group were two of twenty-nine and five of twenty-seven, respectively. The seminal parameters (total sperm count, sperm concentration, forward motility and morphology) were significantly improved in the normal- and low-level inhibin B groups, but no significant variation was observed in the high-level group at the end of the study. CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy of FSH treatment was associated with the dose of FSH and duration of treatment, and FSH therapy was more effective in patients with normal level and low level of inhibin B.