Impacts and Risk Assessments of Climate Change for the Yields of the Major Grain Crops in China, Japan, and Korea.

Climate change poses a high risk to grain yields. Maize, rice, and wheat are the three major grain crops in China, Japan, and Korea. Assessing the impacts and risks of climate on the yields of these grain cops is crucial. An economy-climate model (C-D-C model) was established to assess the impacts of climate factors on the grain yields in different crop areas. The peaks over threshold model based on the generalized Pareto distribution was used to calculate the value at risk and the expected shortfall, which can evaluate the yield risk of different crops. The impact ratio of climate change was employed to estimate the impacts of climate change under different climate scenarios. The main conclusions can be summarized as follows: the impacts of climate factors on grain yields and the risk vary widely across the different regions and crops. Compared to 1991-2020, climate change from 2021 to 2050 exerts positive impacts on rice and wheat, while the negative impacts on maize in the crop areas are significantly affected by climate factors. The impact ratios of climate change are larger in the SSP1-2.6 and the SSP5-8.5 scenarios than under the SSP2-4.5 scenario. These findings are useful for targeting grain yields in smaller study areas.

Impaired Sensitivity to Thyroid Hormones Is Associated With Decreased Vitamin D Levels in the Euthyroid Population.

CONTEXT: The relationship between vitamin D and thyroid profiles lacks consensus despite extensive investigations. Whether vitamin D levels correlate with thyroid hormone sensitivity remains largely unexplored. OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between vitamin D levels and thyroid hormone sensitivity among euthyroid individuals. METHODS: This study involved 6452 euthyroid participants. Clinical parameters, including TSH, free thyroxine, 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], and other relevant indicators were extracted from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-2012. To quantify thyroid hormone sensitivity, we calculated the Thyroid Feedback Quantile-based Index (TFQI), the TSH index (TSHI), and the thyrotropin thyroxine resistance index (TT4RI). RESULTS: Subjects with impaired thyroid hormone sensitivity have decreased 25(OH)D levels (TFQI, TT4RI: P < 0.05; TSHI: P = .05574) following adjustment of confounding variables. Age-specific analysis found negative correlations between thyroid hormone sensitivity indices and 25(OH)D within the 20 to 60 years subgroup, turning positive in the 60 to 80 years subgroup. In females, thyroid hormone sensitivity indices and vitamin D levels were negatively linked, while in males, vitamin D's relationships with TFQI, TT4RI, and TSHI shifted from negative to positive when 25(OH)D levels exceeded 63.5 nmol/L, 56.7 nmol/L, and 56.7 nmol/L, respectively. Stratification by race revealed U-shaped curvilinear patterns resembling those found in the males. In body mass index (BMI) subanalysis, vitamin D had differing associations with thyroid hormone sensitivity indices: negative in the <25 kg/m2 and ≥30 kg/m2 subgroups and U-shaped in the 25-30 kg/m2 subgroup. CONCLUSION: Impaired thyroid hormone sensitivity correlates with decreased vitamin D levels among euthyroid subjects, with associations varying by age, sex, race, and BMI.

Familial dysalbuminemic hyperthyroxinemia combined with Graves' disease: a rare case report.

BACKGROUND: Familial dysalbuminemic hyperthyroxinemia (FDH) is an autosomal dominant disease characterised by an abnormally increased affinity of albumin for serum thyroxine. Assay interference and differential diagnosis remain challenging for FDH. The condition is more complicated when FDH is combined with primary thyroid diseases. Co-occurrence of FDH and Graves' disease is rare. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of a 28-year-old woman with complex FDH and coexisting Graves' disease. Initially, the existence of FDH was not recognised. Graves' disease was relieved after treatment with antithyroid drugs and two administrations of radioactive iodine therapy. She subsequently developed primary hypothyroidism and was prescribed levothyroxine replacement. However, thyroid function failed to normalise despite frequent levothyroxine dose adjustments. Ultimately, syndromes involving the inappropriate secretion of thyroid-stimulating hormone (IST) were considered, and FDH was successfully differentiated from other causes of IST. CONCLUSIONS: A greater focus on FDH when investigating the causes of IST is critical to correctly evaluate thyroid function status and avoid inappropriate treatment, especially in complicated cases with concurrent FDH and primary thyroid diseases.

Association between Adiposity and Bone Mineral Density in Adults: Insights from a National Survey Analysis.

Adiposity and bone mineral density (BMD) are closely associated. The aim of this research was to investigate the association between BMD and adiposity measures in adults, including gynoid percent fat (GPF), android percent fat (APF), total percent fat (TPF), visceral adipose tissue percent (VAT%), and total lean mass percent (TLM%). Participants (n = 11,615) aged 18 years and older were analyzed using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) spanning from 1999 to 2018. Associations between BMD and adiposity measures were investigated, and potential differences based on gender and age were explored. Significant negative associations were observed among TPF, APF, GPF, VAT%, and BMD in the fully adjusted models, while TLM% and BMD were positively associated. Stratifying by age and sex, TPF, GPF, and VAT% consistently demonstrated a negative correlation with BMD. In the young adult group, a TPF of 38.2% eliminated the negative correlation between BMD and TPF. Male BMD exhibited an inverted U-shaped relationship with APF, peaking at 35.6%, while a similar pattern was observed for the middle-aged group BMD and APF, with a peak at 31.7%. This large-sample research found a significant negative association between adiposity measures and BMD, providing valuable revelations regarding the intricate connection between adiposity and bone health.

A multiple isotope (S, H, O and C) approach to estimate sulfate increasing mechanism of groundwater in coal mine area.

Groundwater in North China type coal mine area is an important source of domestic, industrial and agricultural water. To explore the sulfate increasing mechanism of groundwater in mining area and identify key influencing factors. In this paper, hydrochemistry and multi-isotope tracer techniques such as δ34SSO4, δ18OSO4, δ2HH2O, δ18OH2O and δ13CDIC were used to study the groundwater circulation law and the migration and transformation mechanism of sulfate and carbonate in coal mine area. The results show that: the hydrochemical types of groundwater in the coal mine area are mainly HCO3- and SO42- anions, while the cations are mainly Ca2+ and Mg2+. The sulfate content is significantly increased, and the pH shows weak alkalinity; the relationship between δ18OH2O and δ18HH2O shows that the dynamic field of groundwater changes significantly after coal mining or closure, and limestone water mainly comes from surface water recharge through 'skylight' infiltration. The relationships between δ18OSO4 and δ18OH2O, δ34SSO4 and δ18OSO4 show that the sulfate in groundwater of coal mine area is mainly derived from sulfide oxidation. The ∆δ18OSO4-H2O value of groundwater in coal mine area is greater than 8 ‰, and the oxygen content in sulfate is 25 %-75 % from oxygen in water, indicating that coal mining has disturbed the groundwater in the study area from reducing environment to oxidizing environment, promoted sulfide oxidation, and accelerated the dissolution of carbonate minerals. The δ13CDIC value and δ34SSO4 value in the coal mine area are inversely proportional. The δ13CDIC of groundwater in the coal mine area is affected by the δ34SSO4 value to a certain extent. Sulfuric acid participates in the dissolution of carbonate minerals, making the pH value weak and alkaline as a whole. This paper expounds the migration and transformation law of sulfate in groundwater in coal mine area, which has practical significance for groundwater quality management. The research results can provide theoretical support for the rational development and utilization of groundwater resources in coal mine areas.

Preparation of new chiral diene ligands and their use in the rhodium catalyzed asymmetric annulation of 2-formylarylboronic acid with dialkylalkynes.

Herein, we report the rhodium-catalyzed domino arylation/cyclization reaction of unactivated internal alkynes to afford the optically active indenols in excellent yields (up to 92%) and extremely high enantioselectivities (up to 99% ee) in the presence of new amide substituted chiral diene ligands. Notably, a total of 21 new chiral diene ligands are synthesized, which are potential choices for other asymmetric reactions.

Carbon dioxide emission characteristics and peak trend analysis of countries along the Belt and Road.

Under the pressure of global carbon neutrality, it is necessary to study the characteristics of carbon emissions and the trend of "carbon peaking" in countries along the "Belt and Road." Because most of these countries have not yet reached their peak carbon emissions, they still have great potential for growth, and peak carbon emissions are a prerequisite for carbon neutrality. This paper divides the countries along the Belt and Road into 9 country groups according to the level of economic development and industrial structure. Based on the carbon emission panel data of countries along the "Belt and Road" from 1970 to 2018 and environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) theory, a panel model was established for each country group for research. This paper analyzes the characteristics of carbon emissions and the trend of "carbon peaking" in these countries and analyzes the economic growth and carbon emissions in combination with the Tapio decoupling model. The decoupling relationship changes on the time scale as a supplement. The results show that in the study area, some countries have completely passed the "carbon peak." The reasons for this are as follows: first, the carbon peak is achieved through industrial upgrading; second, the "carbon peak" is caused by the drastic changes in Eastern Europe and the disintegration of the Soviet Union and deindustrialization; and third, the carbon peak is caused by poverty and population growth. Most of the remaining countries have not yet achieved the carbon peak. Among them, some countries represented by the Middle East are highly coupled with their economic development and carbon emissions. Middle-income and high-industrial-dependence countries are in the transitional period in terms of the carbon peak. Low-income and medium- and high-industrial-dependence countries are currently still in the stage of barbaric development. From the research on the decoupling situation, the relationship between the economic growth of countries along the "Belt and Road" and their carbon emissions has been improving in recent decades, and it is expected that a more ideal state of decoupling will be achieved in the future.

Identification of mixing water source and response mechanism of radium and radon under mining in limestone of coal seam floor.

With the gradual increase of the coal mining depth, the mixing of multiple water sources intensifies and the activity of radium and radon in groundwater increases. Identifying the source of mine water inrush by using radium and radon isotopes is a new choice. In this paper, the mathematical statistics method, radioactive isotope decay theory, the mass conservation principle, and the numerical simulation method are used to analyze the influence of total dissolved solids (TDS), pH, and the hydrochemical ion content in groundwater on the isotope activity of radium, radon, uranium, thorium, and lead. The activity of thorium and lead is lower than the detection limit of the instrument, and the influence of coal mining activities on it is small. The simulation of the radium-radon mass balance in groundwater shows that the greater the adsorption coefficient (k) of solid particles in groundwater is, the more obvious the adsorption effect and the greater the influence on the radium-radon activity balance are. The radium-radon dating method is used to calculate the groundwater age. Results show that the groundwater age in the closed pit coal mining area is generally older than that in the mining coal mining area. Combined with the 222Rn, 226Ra, and 234U radioactive isotopes and temperature, a mixing water source identification model of limestone in the coal seam floor is constructed. The model shows that the radium activity and temperature of the groundwater are inversely proportional to the mixing ratio of the Permian sandstone water. From the closed pit coal mining area to the mining coal mining area, the radium radon activity of the groundwater increases gradually, the groundwater age decreases significantly, the water cycle is accelerated, the mixing ratio of the Permian sandstone water decreases gradually, the mixing ratio of the Ordovician limestone water increases gradually, and the risk of coal mine water inrush increases. The research results prove the feasibility of the new method for accurately discriminating the mixing water sources in coal mine areas, which is of great significance to the improvement of the theory of coal mine water disaster prevention and control.

Analysis of thyroid involvement in children and adult Langerhans cell histiocytosis: An underestimated endocrine manifestation.

Background: Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare disease caused by the clonal expansion of CD1a+/CD207+ LCH cells. The thyroid involvement in LCH has mostly been described in case reports. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the clinical characteristics, diagnosis, and treatment of 27 children and adult patients with thyroid LCH in our center between 2010 and 2021. Results: The incidence of thyroid LCH was 14.00% (7/50) in children and 10.10% (20/198) in adults, respectively. Among patients with thyroid involvement, 81.5% presented with diabetes insipidus (DI) as the first symptom, and 51.9% complained of neck swelling or mass. Children and adults with thyroid LCH had higher frequencies of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis (HPA) (children: 100% vs. 62.8%, P=0.05; adult: 95% vs. 42.1%, P<0.001), the lung (children: 85.7% vs. 25.6%, P=0.004; adult: 70% vs. 50.6%, P=0.099), and a lower frequency of bone (children: 14.3% vs. 55.8%, P=0.049; adult: 45% vs. 73.6%, P=0.008) involvement than patients without thyroid involvement. Patients with thyroid LCH had a higher frequency of primary hypothyroidism and a lower frequency of euthyroidism than patients without it. The two major types of ultrasound imaging were diffuse (55%) and nodular type (45%). The standardized uptake value of thyroid on 18-F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography was 5.3-12.8. The diagnoses were confirmed using thyroid aspiration (54.5%) or surgery (45.5%). In addition, thyroid LCH combined with papillary thyroid carcinoma was not rare (2/27). Conclusion: Thyroid involvement in LCH is not rare. Furthermore, identifying thyroid involvement can facilitate the pathological diagnosis of LCH. Therefore, the possibility of thyroid LCH should be fully investigated in patients with DI, primary hypothyroidism, abnormal thyroid ultrasound results, and multi-system disease. In addition, thyroid aspiration can confirm suspected thyroid LCH. Finally, special attention should be paid to evaluating HPA and pulmonary involvement in thyroid LCH.

Impacts of Extreme Climate Events on Future Rice Yields in Global Major Rice-Producing Regions.

Under the dual impacts of climate change and COVID-19, there are great risks to the world's food security. Rice is one of the three major food crops of the world. Assessing the impact of climate change on future rice production is very important for ensuring global food security. This article divides the world's main rice-producing regions into four regions and uses a multivariate nonlinear model based on historical economic and climatic data to explore the impacts of historical extreme climatic events and economic factors on rice yield. Based on these historical models, future climatic data, and economic data under different shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs), the yields of four major rice-producing regions of the world under different climate change scenarios (SSP126, SSP245, and SSP585) are predicted. The research results reveal that under different climate change scenarios, extreme high-temperature events (Tx90p) and extreme precipitation events (Rx5day, R99pTOT) in the four major rice-producing regions have an upward trend in the future. Extreme low-temperature events (Tn10p) have a downward trend. In the rice-producing regions of Southeast Asia and South America, extreme precipitation events will increase significantly in the future. The prediction results of this model indicate that the rice output of these four major rice-producing regions will show an upward trend in the future. Although extreme precipitation events will have a negative impact on rice production, future increases in rice planting areas, economic development, and population growth will all contribute to an increase in rice production. The increase in food demand caused by population growth also brings uncertainty to global food security. This research is helpful for further understanding climate change trends and risks to global rice-production areas in the future and provides an important reference for global rice-production planning and risk management.

Significant metabolic alterations in patients with hepatitis B virus replication observed via serum untargeted metabolomics shed new light on hepatitis B virus infection.

Until now, the metabolic effects of hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication on the progression of hepatic diseases (hepatitis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer) and liver functions have remained unexplored. Thus, a total of 199 hepatic disease patients with active and inactive HBV were enrolled in this study to explore serum metabolic characteristics using untargeted metabolomics. Multiple analyses, including principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), volcano plot and pathway analysis, were used for metabolic data analysis. Additionally, differential metabolites were analysed by commercial databases. A decrease of approximately 0.8-fold in amino acids (L-glutamic acid, D-glutamine and L-tyrosine) and an increase of 2-fold in phosphatidylcholines (PCs) and lysophosphatidylcholines (LPCs) were observed in hepatic disease patients with HBV replication. Moreover, downregulation of arachidonic acid, PC 34:2, sn-glycerol-3-phosphocholine, 1-palmitoylglycerophosphoinositol, and 1-oleoylglycerophosphoinositol by 0.6-fold was also found in the serum of patients with HBV replication. In addition, liver function was significantly different between cirrhosis patients with or without HBV replication (p < .05). In summary, this is the first study to focus on the metabolic changes induced by HBV replication in patients and to compare metabolic alterations in the progression of hepatic disease induced by HBV infection. High levels of amino acid depletion and PC and LPC biosynthesis were primarily observed, which may shed new light on the pathogenesis and treatment of HBV infection.

Analysis of Vitamin D Components in Serum of Minors by UHPLC-MS/MS.

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration represents the body's reserves of vitamin D, which is mostly used by clinicians to evaluate the storage status of vitamin D in the body. The present study aimed to investigate the serum vitamin D components in different health status of minors to correctly evaluate the vitamin D storage in vivo. A total of 2,270 minors were included in the study, which was divided into healthy group (1,204 cases) and disease group (1,066 cases, including 270 short stature, 433 respiratory infections, 175 malnutrition and 188 tic disorder subjects). The levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 [25(OH)D2] and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3] were measured by UHPLC-MS/MS in all subjects, and the 25(OH)D3 activity equivalents [25(OH)D3-AE] and 25(OH)D were calculated. In addition, the 3-epi-25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [3-epi-25(OH)D3] concentrations of 278 subjects (including 147 healthy and 131 disease subjects) were measured by random sampling. 25(OH)D2, 25(OH)D3, 25(OH)D and 25(OH)D3-AE levels in disease group were significantly lower than those in healthy group (p<0.001). According to the level of 25(OH)D, the sufficiency of vitamin D [25(OH)D≥30 ng/mL] was 65.4% in healthy group and 50.5% in disease group. When the 25(OH)D2 activity was converted into 25(OH)D3-AE, 53.2% of the patients in the healthy group had sufficiency vitamin D, and 39.1% in the disease group. The 3-epi-25(OH)D3 level in the disease group was significantly lower than that in the healthy group (p<0.001). Not only the 25(OH)D, but also the both of 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 levels may overestimate the vitamin D status in subjects. For accurate evaluation, at least the serum levels of 25(OH)D2, 25(OH)D3 and 3-epi-25(OH)D3 should be determined simultaneously.

A Rat Model of Orthotopic Kidney Transplantation Based on Nonanastomotic Technique.

BACKGROUND: Renal transplantation is an effective treatment for end-stage renal disease, which involves pathophysiologic processes such as ischemia-reperfusion injury and immune rejection. The degree of ischemia-reperfusion injury is closely related to the functional state of the transplanted kidney. At present, the allogeneic kidney transplantation model has been widely used in related research. The traditional kidney transplantation model has the disadvantages of complicated vascular anastomosis, difficulty in ureteral reconstruction. The aim of this study was to establish a rat autologous orthotopic kidney transplantation model based on non-anastomotic technique. METHODS: Inbred Wistar rats weighing 260 to 280 g were selected. The rats were anesthetized by intraperitoneal injections of 40 mg/kg body weight pentobarbital sodium. We exposed and freed the left kidney after laparotomy and separated the left renal artery and left renal vein, abdominal aorta, and posterior vena cava. A purse-string suture with a diameter of 1 to 2 mm was made through the tunica media of the abdominal aorta. A puncture was made through the center of the purse-string suture. The in-dwelling needle was placed in the renal artery along the blood flow direction, and was infused with constant flow of 4°C heparinized lactated ringer's solution until the kidney became pale yellow. The renal vein was ligated and the renal artery was clamped. The in-dwelling needle was removed, purse-string suture was ligated, and the kidney was stored in a self-made autologous kidney transplant cold storage bag for 4 hours. We then opened the vein and artery, removed the cold storage bag, and rewarmed with 37°C normal saline. The abdomen was then closed layer by layer. RESULTS: Fifty-two orthotopic renal transplantations were performed, which included pre-experimental (40 operations) and experimental stages (12 operations). The success rates of the 2 stages were 75% and 91.7%, respectively. The main causes of failure were intraoperative hemorrhagic shock and postoperative infection. The operation time of orthotopic renal transplantation was 360 ± 30 minutes, including 30 ± 10 minutes for dissociation and management of kidney and blood vessels, 1 ± 0.5 minutes for warm ischemia and 240 ± 10 minutes for cold storage. Rats were sacrificed at 1 day and 7 day respectively. The rats were in good condition after operation. They could eat and drink freely. At 24 hours and 1 week after transplantation, the kidney's blood supply was good, the intestine was light or showed no adhesions, and the abdominal cavity had no ascites or peculiar smell. Hematoxylin & eosin (H&E) staining showed that there were no obvious pathologic changes in the sham group. The orthotopic kidney transplantation 1-day group showed pathologic changes of ischemia-reperfusion, such as swelling, necrosis, shedding, and cast formation of renal tubular cells. The orthotopic kidney transplantation 7-day group recovered well, with mild dilation of the renal capsule and mild dilatation of the renal tubules. CONCLUSION: The new model of autologous kidney transplantation is simple to use, does not require vascular anastomosis and ureteral reconstruction, and has a high success rate.

Serum Metabolic Profiling Analysis of Chronic Gastritis and Gastric Cancer by Untargeted Metabolomics.

PURPOSE: Gastric cancer is a common tumor of the digestive system. Identification of potential molecules associated with gastric cancer progression and validation of potential biomarkers for gastric cancer diagnosis are very important. Thus, the aim of our study was to determine the serum metabolic characteristics of the serum of patients with chronic gastritis (CG) or gastric cancer (GC) and validate candidate biomarkers for disease diagnosis. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: A total of 123 human serum samples from patients with CG or GC were collected for untargeted metabolomic analysis via UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS to determine characteristics of the serum. Principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), and heat map were used for multivariate analysis. In addition, commercial databases were used to identify the pathways of metabolites. Differential metabolites were identified based on a heat map with a t-test threshold (p < 0.05), fold-change threshold (FC > 1.5 or FC < 2/3) and variable importance in the projection (VIP >1). Then, differential metabolites were analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve to determine candidate biomarkers. All samples were analyzed for fasting lipid profiles. RESULTS: Analysis of serum metabolomic profiles indicated that most of the altered metabolic pathways in the three groups were associated with lipid metabolism (p < 0.05) and lipids and lipid-like molecules were the predominating metabolites within the top 100 differential metabolites (p < 0.05, FC > 1.5 or FC < 2/3, and VIP >1). Moreover, differential metabolites, including hexadecasphinganine, linoleamide, and N-Hydroxy arachidonoyl amine had high diagnostic performance according to PLS-DA. In addition, fasting lipid profile analysis showed the serum levels of total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and apolipoprotein A1 (Apo-A1) were decreased concomitant to the progression of the progression of the disease compared with those in the control group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Thus, this study demonstrated that lipid metabolism may influence the development of CG to GC. Hexadecasphinganine, linoleamide, and N-Hydroxy arachidonoyl amine were selected as candidate diagnostic markers for CG and GC.

Evaluation of vitamin D storage in patients with chronic kidney disease: Detection of serum vitamin D metabolites using high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D (VitD) deficiency is extremely common in chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, the current clinical testing of vitamin D is based on the recommended serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D]. The levels of VitD components in CKD patients are rarely reported. In this study, we tested various VitD components, and used different methods to evaluate the VitD status of CKD patients in vivo. METHODS: Totally 173 CKD patients and 111 control individuals were enrolled. Serum levels of 25(OH)D2, 25(OH)D3, C3-epimers (C3-epi) and free 25(OH)D [f-25(OH)D] were measured. The 25(OH)D2/25(OH)D3 ratio, C3-epi/25(OH)D3 ratio, total 25(OH)D [t-25(OH)D], and bioavailable vitamin D (BAVD) were calculated, respectively. RESULTS: The ratios of 25(OH)D2/25(OH)D3, C3-epi/25(OH)D3, and the level of C3-epi in CKD patients were significantly higher than those in the control group (all P < 0.05). The levels of t-25(OH)D, 25(OH)D3, C3-epi, f-25(OH)D and BAVD in patients with CKD stage 5 were significantly lower than those in stages 2, 3, and 4 (all P < 0.05). The calculated VitD storage according to Method 3 [25(OH)D2/3 + 25(OH)D3] was only 32.95 %, which was lower than the results of 53.76 % by Method 1 [25(OH)D2+ 25(OH)D3+C3-epi] and 48.56 % by Method 2 [25(OH)D2/3 + 25(OH)D3+C3-epi]. In addition, the VitD results calculated by three methods were positively correlated with f-25(OH)D and BAVD, while C3-epi levels were also positively correlated with f-25(OH)D and BAVD. CONCLUSION: Serum levels of t-25(OH)D, 25(OH)D3, C3-epi, f-25(OH)D and BAVD in CKD patients gradually decrease with the progression of CKD stages. Though the results of VitD storage in CKD patients evaluated by different methods are different, simultaneous detection of 25(OH)D2, 25(OH)D3, C3-epi and f-25(OH)D levels and fully estimation of their respective biological activities could accurately evaluate the VitD storage in vivo.

Tumor promoting effects of circRNA_001287 on renal cell carcinoma through miR-144-targeted CEP55.

BACKGROUND: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a common urological cancer. circular RNAs (circRNAs) is involved in the development of various types of cancers. However, the roles and underlying mechanisms of circRNAs in RCC are not fully elucidated. Herein, we aimed to examine the potential effect of circ_001287 on RCC progression. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Microarray-based gene expression profiling of RCC was initially employed in order to identify differentially expressed genes. Next, the expression of circ_001287 was examined, and the cell line with the highest circ_001287 expression was selected for subsequent investigation. The interaction among circ_001287, miR-144, and CEP55 was identified by conducting luciferase reporter assay, RNA-pull down, RIP, RT-qPCR and FISH. The effect of circ_001287 on proliferative, invasive and migratory capacities as well as tumorigenicity of transfected cells in mice was examined using gain- and loss-of-function experiments. RESULTS: circ_001287 and CEP55 were highly expressed while miR-144 was decreased in RCC tissues and cell lines. circ_001287 can up-regulate CEP55 by binding to miR-144, which resulted in increased proliferative, invasive and migratory capacities and tumor growth in vivo. In addition, down-regulation of miR-144 was also observed to promote these biological activities. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, these results elucidate a new mechanism for circ_001287 in RCC development and provide a potential therapeutic target for RCC patients.

Urine Metabolomics Analysis in Patients With Normoalbuminuric Diabetic Kidney Disease.

OBJECTIVE: Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) leads to low high albuminuria and gradually progresses to very high albuminuria with kidney insufficiency. However, about 20-40% of DKD is normoalbuminuric DKD (NADKD), which has impaired kidney function but normal urine albumin. This study is to investigate the urine metabolomic profiles of patients with NADKD and albuminuria DKD (ADKD). METHODS: In total, 95 patients were divided into a simple diabetes mellitus group (SDM group), an ADKD group, and a NADKD group. All subjects were analyzed for urine metabolites using non-targeted metabolomics based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry. RESULTS: The urine metabolomic profiles of the SDM group, NADKD group, and ADKD group were significantly different, and 65 different metabolites were identified among the three groups. Metabolic pathway analysis of these differential metabolites found that the top three significantly changed metabolic pathways were linoleic acid metabolism, citrate cycle, and, arginine and proline metabolism. There are 12 metabolites enriched in these three metabolic pathways. In detail, compared with those in the SDM group, the levels of γ-linolenic acid in the ADKD group were increased significantly, while the levels of succinic acid, cis-aconitic acid, citric acid, L-proline, L-erythro-4-hydroxyglutamate, N-methylhydantoin, N-carbamoylputrescine, spermidine, and 5-aminopentanoic acid were reduced significantly; compared with those in the NADKD group, the levels of linoleic acid, γ-linolenic acid, and L-malic acid in the ADKD group were increased significantly (P < 0.05), while the levels of L-proline, L-erythro-4-hydroxyglutamate, N-carbamoylputrescine, and spermidine were significantly reduced (P < 0.05). However, there were no significant difference between the SDM group and NADKD group (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The urine metabolomic profiles between the NADKD group and the ADKD group are significantly different. Specifically, these two groups have distinct levels of linoleic acid, γ-linolenic acid, L-malic acid, L-proline, L-erythro-4-hydroxyglutamate, N-carbamoylputrescine, and spermidine.

Circular RNA circ_001842 plays an oncogenic role in renal cell carcinoma by disrupting microRNA-502-5p-mediated inhibition of SLC39A14.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a common urologic malignancy, and up to 30% of RCC patients present with locally advanced or metastatic disease at the time of initial diagnosis. Increasing evidence suggests that circular RNAs (circRNAs) serve as genomic regulatory molecules in various human cancers. Our initial in silico microarray-based analysis identified that circRNA circ_001842 was highly expressed in RCC. Such up-regulation of circ_001842 in RCC was experimentally validated in tissues and cell lines using RT-qPCR. Thereafter, we attempted to identify the role of circ_001842 in the pathogenesis of RCC. Through a series of gain- and loss-of function assays, cell biological functions were examined using colony formation assay, Transwell assay, annexin V-FITC/PI-labelled flow cytometry and scratch test. A high expression of circ_001842 in tissues was observed as associated with poor prognosis of RCC patients. circ_001842 was found to elevate SLC39A14 expression by binding to miR-502-5p, consequently resulting in augmented RCC cell proliferation, migration and invasion, as well as EMT in vitro and tumour growth in vivo. These observations imply the involvement of circ_001842 in RCC pathogenesis through a miR-502-5p-dependent SLC39A14 mechanism, suggesting circ_001842 is a potential target for RCC treatment.

lncRNA 00312 Attenuates Cell Proliferation and Invasion and Promotes Apoptosis in Renal Cell Carcinoma via miR-34a-5p/ASS1 Axis.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have demonstrated that lncRNAs play functional roles in regulating cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and apoptosis. Recent studies confirmed that lncRNA 00312 has important biological functions in lung and colorectal cancer. However, the role of lncRNA 00312 in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) remains unclear. Our aim was to explore the function of lncRNA 00312 in RCC and its potential molecular mechanism. METHODS: RCC cell lines A498 and ACHN were used as in vitro models in this study. RT-PCR was performed to determine lncRNA 00312, miR-34a-5p, and ASS1 mRNA expression. Proliferation and invasion were examined by CCK-8 and Transwell assay to confirm the function role of lncRNA 00312. Western blot analysis was used to examine the expression of apoptotic proteins Bax and Bcl-2. RESULTS: lncRNA was significantly downregulated in RCC cells such as A498 and ACHN; the expression of lncRNA 00312 in RCC tissues was significantly lower than that in adjacent normal tissues. Patients with low expression of lncRNA 00312 have worse prognosis regarding pathological grade, tumor size, and TNM stage. Overexpression of lncRNA 00312 suppressed A498 and ACHN cell proliferation and invasion, while promoting apoptosis. Our study found that miR-34a-5p had the potential binding site with lncRNA 00312 and revealed the role of miR-34a-5p in RCC. Furthermore, we confirmed that lncRNA 00312 played its role with the participation of ASS1 and miR-34a-5p. CONCLUSION: lncRNA 00312 can inhibit RCC proliferation and invasion and promote apoptosis in vitro by suppressing miR-34a-5p and overexpressing ASS1. Our study demonstrated that the lncRNA 00312/miR-34a-5p/ASS1 axis may play a functional role in the progression of RCC; lncRNA 00312 abundance is a prognostic factor candidate for RCC survival, which provides new insights for RCC clinical treatment.in vitro models in this study. RT-PCR was performed to determine lncRNA 00312, miR-34a-5p, and ASS1 mRNA expression. Proliferation and invasion were examined by CCK-8 and Transwell assay to confirm the function role of lncRNA 00312. Western blot analysis was used to examine the expression of apoptotic proteins Bax and Bcl-2.