Urinary matrix metalloproteinase-7 is a sensitive biomarker to evaluate renal tubular injury in patients with minimal change disease and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.

Objective: To explore the advantages of urinary matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7) in evaluating renal tubular injury in minimal change disease (MCD) and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) patients compared with urinary cystatin C (CysC) and retinol-binding protein (RBP). Methods: Serum and urine samples were collected from 20 healthy volunteers, and 40 MCD and 20 FSGS patients. Serum and urinary MMP-7 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Urinary total protein, CysC and RBP levels were measured by automatic specific protein analyzer and compared with urinary creatinine level for calibration. The renal tissue serial sections were stained by MMP-7 immunohistochemistry and periodic acid-Schiff. Results: Under light microscopy, MMP-7 granular weak positive expression was showed sporadically in the cytoplasm of a few renal tubular epithelial cells without obvious morphological changes in MCD patients, and MMP-7-positive expression was observed in the cytoplasm of some renal tubular epithelial cells in FSGS patients. There was no significant difference in serum MMP-7 level among the three groups. Compared with the control group, the urinary MMP-7 level in MCD patients was higher, but urinary CysC and RBP levels were not increased significantly. Compared with the control group and MCD patients, urinary MMP-7, CysC and RBP levels in FSGS patients were upregulated significantly. Conclusions: Urinary MMP-7 could not only evaluate the mild renal tubular epithelial cells injury in MCD patients with massive proteinuria, but also evaluate the continuous renal tubular epithelial cells injury in FSGS patients.

To investigate the correlation between normal fetal biventricular myocardial function and gestational age using velocity vector imaging.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the left and right ventricular segmental and global myocardial function of normal fetuses using velocity vector imaging and explore the correlation between global myocardial function parameters and gestational age. Methods: A total of 127 normal fetuses were selected and divided into five groups according to gestational age for the measurement of their left and right ventricular segmental and global velocity, strain, and strain rate. This study also explored the change trend in the global myocardial function parameters at different gestational ages and analyzed its correlation with gestational age. Results: The peak velocities of the biventricular segments of the normal fetuses showed a decreasing trend from the basal to the middle to the apex segment, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). However, the strain and peak strain rate between adjacent segments showed no significant differences (P > 0.05). The peak global velocity of both ventricles increased with the gestational age, and it was moderately correlated with gestational age; however, the correlation of strain and peak strain rate with gestational age was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Conclusion: In normal fetuses, the peak myocardial velocity of the biventricular segments showed a decreasing trend from the basal to the apical segment. The global peak myocardial velocity was linearly correlated with gestational age; however, the global strain and peak strain rate did not change as gestational age increased, indicating that the myocardial deformability of the fetus' ventricles was constant in the middle and late trimesters.