The Usefulness of Resistant Maltodextrin and Chitosan Oligosaccharide in Management of Gut Leakage and Microbiota in Chronic Kidney Disease.

Microbiota-dysbiosis-induced gut leakage is a pathophysiologic change in chronic kidney disease (CKD), leading to the production of several uremic toxins and their absorption into the bloodstream to worsen the renal complications. We evaluate the benefits of resistant maltodextrin (RMD) and chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) supplements in cell culture and CKD-induced rats. The RMD exerted a significant anti-inflammatory effect in vitro and intestinal occludin and zonula occluden-1 up-regulation in CKD rats compared with inulin and COS. While all prebiotics slightly improved gut dysbiosis, RMD remarkably promoted the relative abundance and the combined abundance of Lactobacillus, Bifidobacteria, Akkermansia, and Roseburia in CKD rats. Supplements of RMD should be advantageous in the treatment of gut leakage and microbiota dysbiosis in CKD.

Urinary sulfated glycosaminoglycan insufficiency and chondroitin sulfate supplement in urolithiasis.

Familial members of urolithiasis have high risk for stone development. We observed the low sulfated glycosaminoglycan (GAG) excretion in urolithiasis patients and their descendants. In this study, we investigated urinary excretion of sulfated GAG, chondroitin sulfate (CS), heparan sulfate (HS) and hyaluronic acid (HA) in urolithiasis and their children, and explored the effect of CS and HA supplement in urolithic hyperoxaluric rats. The 24-hour urines were collected from urolithiasis patients (28) and their children (40), as well as healthy controls (45) and their children (33) to measure urinary sulfated GAG, CS, HS and HA excretion rate. Our result showed that urinary sulfated GAG and CS were diminished in both urolithiasis patients and their children, while decreased HS and increased HA were observed only in urolithiasis patients. Percentage of HS per sulfated GAG increased in both urolithiasis patients and their children. In hyperoxaluric rats induced by ethylene glycol and vitamin D, we found that CS supplement could prevent stone formation, while HA supplement had no effect on stone formation. Our study revealed that decreased urinary GAG and CS excretion are common in familial members of urolithiasis patients, and CS supplement might be beneficial in calcium oxalate urolithiasis prophylaxis for hyperoxaluric patients.

Effects of RFamide-related peptide (RFRP)-1 and RFRP-3 on oxytocin release and anxiety-related behaviour in rats.

RFamide-related peptides (RFRP-1 and RFRP-3) are localised in neurones of the dorsomedial hypothalamus in rats. The dorsomedial hypothalamus plays an essential role in neuroendocrine and behavioural stress responses. In the present study, we examined the role of RFRP in the control of neuroendocrine and behavioural responses in rats. Stressful stimuli increased expression of Fos protein in RFRP-immunoreactive neurones of the dorsomedial hypothalamus, suggesting that stressful stimuli activate RFRP neurones. Intracerebroventricular injection of RFRPs increased the expression of Fos protein in oxytocin neurones in the hypothalamus and plasma concentrations of adrenocorticotrophic hormone and oxytocin. The hypothalamic paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei expressed mRNA of GPR147, the putative RFRP receptor, and application of RFRPs to isolated supraoptic nuclei facilitated oxytocin release, suggesting that RFRPs activate oxytocin neurones directly. Furthermore, the administration of RFRPs induced anxiety-related behaviour in rats in open-field tests. All these data taken together suggest that RFRPs play a role in the control of neuroendocrine and behavioural stress responses in rats.