Objective To explore the protective effects of schisandrin B (Sch B) on hypoxia injury induced by cobaltous chloride (CoCl2) in human proximal renal tubular epithelial (HK-2) cells, and the possible mechanism thereof. Methods HK-2 cells were randomly assigned to four groups:control group (Con, cells were untreated), CoCl2 group (CoCl2, cells were treated with 600μmol/L CoCl2 for 24 h), Sch B pretreat group (CoCl2+Sch B, cells were pretreated with 1μmol/L and 10μmol/L Sch B for 2 h) and Sch B group (Sch B, cells were treated with 1μmol/L and 10μmol/L Sch B for 2 h). CCK-8 kit was used to detect the cell viability of four groups. Flow cytometry was used to detect the apoptotic rate of four groups. The protein expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α(HIF-1α) was assessed by Western blot assay. The expressions of HIF-1α and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA were determined by RT-PCR. Results Compared with the control group, after treated with 600 μmol/L CoCl2, the cell viability was decreased, and the apoptosis was increased, the expressions of HIF-1α and iNOS mRNA were up-regulated in HK-2 cells. There was no significant difference in the expression of HIF-1α mRNA between control group and CoCl2 group. Compared with the CoCl2 group, after pretreated with 1μmol/L and 10μmol/L Sch B, the cell viability was increased and the apoptosis was decreased, the expressions of HIF-1α and iNOS were down-regulated in HK-2 cells. There were no significant differences in the cell viability and apoptotic rate between control group and Sch B group. Conclusion Pretreatment with Sch B can reduce the apoptosis of HK-2 cells by inhibiting the expression of HIF-1α and iNOS mRNA, which shows protective effects on hypoxia injury.

Objective To investigate the diagnostic and prognostic value of presepsin for sepsis.Methods Diagnostic accuracy test.The plasma presepsin levels of 57 sepsis patients,64 systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) patients and 120 healthy individuals admitted to the 263 Clinical Branch,General Hospital of Beijing Military Region between January 2012 and December 2013were detected by PATHFAST system.Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to assess and compare the diagnostic value of presepsin and procalitonin (PCT).Logistic regression model was used to estimate the association between presepsin and sepsis.In addition,the correlations between presepsin and the clinical characteristics were analyzed in sepsis patients.Results Sepsis patients [1 266 (754-2 181) pg/ml] had higher presepsin level than SIRS[517 (349-939)pg/ml] and healthy individual controls [(182 ± 56)pg/ml] (Z value was 5.94 and 10.71,respectively,P value was ＜ 0.01 for all).The areas under curve (AUCs) of presepsin and PCT were 0.81 (95％ CI:0.74-0.89) and 0.78 (95％ CI:0.71-0.86),respectively,with no statistical significance (x2 =0.60,P =0.47).After adjusted for PCT,presepsin ＞ 1 060 pg/ml was independently associated with sepsis,with odds ratio (OR) of 7.80 (95 ％ CI:3.07-20.32).Severe sepsis patients [2 723 (2 002-4 234) pg/ml] had higher presepsin than sepsis patients[1 145 (656-1 436) pg/ml] (Z =4.00,P ＜0.01).The patients with inhosptal mortality [2 365 (1 256-3 567)pg/ml] had higher presepsin than survival ones[1 146 (660-1 452) pg/ml] (Z =2.99,P =0.003).Presepsin was positively correlated with PCT (r =0.75,P ＜ 0.01).The reference for presepsin was 72 to 292 pg/ml.Conclusions Presepsin was an useful biomarker for sepsisdiagnosis.The diagnostic value of presepsin and PCT was not completely overlap,and combinational using of these two biomarkers may improve the diagnostic accuracy of sepsis.In addition,presepsin had potential value for prognosis estimation.