Objective To study the association of bone metabolism with the degree of proteinuria in patients of chronic kidney diseases (CKD). Methods A total of 71 CKD patients diagnosed as primary glomerulopathy were randomly selected from 2008.1-2009.5 in the First People's Hospital of Shanghai. They were classified into three groups according to proteinuria:group A of 25 patients, proteinuria ＜1.0 g/24 h; group B of 16 patients, proteinuria 1.0-＜3.5 g/24 h;group C of 30 patients, proteinuria ≥ 3.5 g/24 h. Fifty-eight healthy persons were selected from our medical examination center at the same time as control. Serum albumin, calcium, phosphorus,PTH, 25 hydroxy vitamin D3, bone gla protein (BGP), degradation products of C-terminal telopeptides of type I collagen (CTx), 24-h urinary protein excretion, and the ratio of urinary calcium to creatinine (UCa/Cr) were measured. Bone mineral density (BMD) was detected by dualenergy X-ray absorptiometry. Results Compared with control group, serum levels of calcium [(2.23±0.08), (2.13±0.09), (2.04±0.06)vs (2.37±0.12)mmol/L], 25-(OH)D3 [(50.19±6.58), (47.78±6.69), (42.42±10.85) vs (56.34±8.34) nmol/L] were significantly lower and UCa/Cr was significantly higher in A, B, C groups respectively (all P＜0.05). In group B and C, BGP was lower [(18.69±7.35), (16.13±5.76) vs (22.88±6.21) μg/L] and CTx was higher [(413.59±114.93),(516.21±314.25) vs (304.53±234.15) ng/L] (all P＜0.05). BMD was lower only in group C [(1.028±0.090) vs (1.090±0.062) g/cm2, P＜0.05]. Pearson analysis showed that 24-h urinary protein excretion was negatively correlated with serum calcium and 25 hydroxy vitamin D3, and positively correlated with UCa/Cr. UCa/Cr was positively correlated with serum CTx and negatively correlated with BGP. 25-(OH) D3 was positively correlated with BGP and negatively correlated with CTx. Conclusion Bone metabolism disorder exists in CKD patients, presenting the decrease of bone formation and the increase of bone resorption, which is associated with as the degree of proteinuria, especially in patients with nephrotic syndrome.

Objective To study the change of serum insulin-like growth factor 1(IGF-1)in primary nephrotic syndrome(PNS)patients and its relationship with bone metabolism, and to investigate the clinical significance of IGF-1 in the mechanism of bone metabolic disorders in PNS patients. Methods A total of 30 PNS patients with chronic kidney disease(CKD)stage 1 and 2 were randomly selected from 2008.1 to 2009.5 in our hospital. Serum IGF-1, albumin, calcium, phosphorus, PTH,25 hydroxy vitamin D3, bone gla protein(BGP), degradation products of C-terminal telopeptides of type I collagen(CTx), 24-hour urinary protein excretion, and ratio of urinary calcium to creatinine(UCa/Cr)were measured. Healthy control group of 61 persons were randomly selected from our medical examination center at the same time. Results Serum levels of calcium, 25 hydroxy vitamin D3 and BGP were significantly lower;CTx and UCa/Cr were significantly higher in PNS patients(P<0.05)as compared to healthy control group. BMD of PNS patients was lower but without significant difference compared with healthy control group[(1.078± 0.090)g/cm2 vs(1.090±0.062)g/cm2, P>0.05]. Serum level of IGF-1 was significantly lower in PNS patients and was positively correlated with BMD and BGP,and negatively correlated with 24-hour urinary protein excretion and CTx. Conclusions Bone metabolic disorder exists in PNS patients with the appearance of decreased bone formation and increased bone absorption.Serum level of IGF-1 has good correlations with bone biochemical markers.which may be used as a new bone biochemical marker of bone metabolism in kidney disease.

AIM: To observe the effect of Retinervus luffae fructus (RLF) on the myocardial ischemia in mice. METHODS: Mice were supplied with RLF (166.7,333.3, 666.7 g/L) twice daily (0.01 mL/g, ig). One week later, 30 U/kg pituitrin was injected intraperitoneally. The electrocardiogram was recorded, and the content of lactose dehydrogenase (LDH) in the serum and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), maleicdialdehyde (MDA) in the myocardium were examined. RESULTS: RLF reduced the height of T wave in electrocardigram in myocardial ischemia mice and inhibited the decrease in heart rate. RLF also reduced the content of LDH in serum and the content of MDA in myocardium. The increase in the activity of SOD in myocardium was also observed. CONCLUSION: RLF may protect myocardium against ischemia injury. The mechanism may be related to the increase in activity of SOD and the suppression of the lipid peroxidation.

Objective To observe the change of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1)before and after glucocorticoid (GC) therapy and to explore the effect of its change on bone metabolism in primary nephrotic syndrome (PNS) patients.Methods A total of 39 PNS patients with mean age of (36.73±12.15) years received GC therapy were selected from January 2008 to August 2009 in our hospital.Serum IGF-1,albumin,calcium,phosphorus,parathormone (PTH),25hydroxy vitamin D3,bone gla protein (BGP),degradation products of C-terminal telopeptides of type I collagen (CTx),24-hour urinary protein excretion and the ratio of urinary calcium to creatinine were measured at five time points-before GC therapy,4 weeks,8 weeks,12 weeks and 24 weeks after the use of GC.BMD was also detected at the same time points.Correlations among indexes were analyzed by Pearson.Results Thirty-six PNS patients fulfilled the follow-up and had complete clinical data,while other 3 patients lost.After GC treatment,serum calcium and 25hydroxy vitamin D3 were significantly increased in a time-dependent manner and were negatively correlated with 24-hour urinary protein excretion (r=-0.749,r=-0.831,P＜0.05,respectively).Serum BGP and IGF-1 were decreased after GC therapy in a time-dependent manner while CTx was significantly increased until week 12 after treatment (P＜0.05).Compared with pre-treatment,BMD of various parts had no significant difference at week 4; BMD of lumbar spine (L1-L4) was significantly decreased until week 8 (P＜0.05); BMD of femoral neck and femoral shaft was significantly decreased at week 24 (P＜0.05).IGF-1 was positively correlated with BGP and BMD (r=0.896,r=0.495,P＜0.05) and negatively correlated with serum CTx (r=-0.697,P＜0.05 ).Conclusions Serum IGF-1 level decreases in a time-dependent manner after GC treatment,which is correlated to BGP,CTx and BMD.Glucocorticoid treatment affects bone metabolism through IGF1 pathway possably in patients with PNS.IGF-1 may be used as a new bone biochemical marker of glucocoritcoid - induced osteoporosis.

ObjectiveTo investigate the expression and distribution of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in renal tissue of HBV associated nephropathy (HBV-GN) and its role in the pathogenesis and clinical manifestations of HBV-GN.MethodsRenal tissues were sampled from 48 HBV-GN patients confirmed by renal biopsy and 154 non-HBV-GN patients.The distribution of TLR4 in renal tissue and the relationship between the distribution of TLR4 and HBsAg were detected by immunohistochemistry.Integrating case record,correlations between the expression of TLR4 with clinical parameters including pathology,glomeruli,kidney tubules lesions,renal interstitial inflammatory infiltration and blood serum HBV were analyzed.ResultsTLR4 mainly distributed in the renal tubular epithelial cells and interstitial areas as brownish red and granular,which was in consistent with HBsAg distribution.The TLR4 positive rate and score in HBV-GN group were higher than those in non-HBV-GN group (P ＜ 0.05 ).TLR4 positive score was slightly higher in mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis group and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis group,which had no significant difference (P ＞ 0.05).Kidney tubules lesions were strongly associated with TLR4 expression (r =0.748,P ＜ 0.001 ) which increased with aggravation of renal interstitial fibrosis ( r =0.569,P ＜0.001 ),tubular atrophy ( r =0.577,P ＜ 0.001 ) and inflammatory cell infiltration ( r =0.684,P ＜0.001 ).No obvious correlation with glomeruli lesions was observed ( r =0.293,P =0.053 ).Negative correlation could be seen between TLR4 and the renal function ( R2 =0.784),systolic blood pressure ( R2 =0.869),high sensitivity C-reactive protein (R2 =0.979) and urinary protein (R2 =0.615 ) by regression analysis.Other clinical parameters had no statistical significances.ConclusionsThe expression of TLR4 is abnormal in the renal tissue of HBV-GN patients,mainly in renal tubular epithelial cells and interstitial,which is consistent with the distribution of HBsAg.Its intensity is closely related with renal interstitial lesions,renal function changes and inflammatory cell infiltration.A speculation,that HBV can promote abnormal expression of TLR4 in renal tissues of HBV-GN which may be involved in the lesion progress of HBV-GN,is made upon our study.

Objective To explore the impact of rituximab on Th17 cells and related cytokines in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in vitro and its significance.Methods 20 cases of DLBCL untreated patients and 20 healthy subjects were enrolled in the name of DLBCL group and health control group, respectively.4 peripheral blood samples were collected from every case to separate peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), which were assigned to 4 subgroups according to different culture conditions: blank subgroup(subgroup A), rituximab subgroup (subgroup B), rituximab and serum subgroup (subgroup C) and polarization subgroup (subgroup D) (added IL-6 and TGF-β).After cultured in vitro, the percentage of Th17 cells in each subgroup was tested by flow cytometry, and the cytokine IL-17 in the abovementioned culture fluid was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Results In health control group, the percentage of Th17 cells and the level of IL-17 in subgroup D [(17.12 ± 4.90) ％ and (45.735±10.012) pg/ml] were significantly higher than those in subgroup A, B, C (P ＜ 0.05), and there was no difference in each other subgroup A, B, C (P ＞ 0.05).The percentage of Th17 cells and the level of IL-17 in the DLBCL subgroup A were significantly lower than those in health control subgroup A [(0.69±0.24) ％ and (6.012±1.312) pg/ml vs (2.43±0.61) ％ and (8.217±1.681) pg/ml (P ＜ 0.05)].In DLBCL group, after cultured with rituximab, the percentages of Th17 cells in subgroup B, C, D were (2.34±0.48) ％, (2.31±0.53) ％ and (16.92±4.81) ％, and the levels of IL-17 were (7.944±1.538) pg/ml, (7.957±1.533) pg/ml and (44.417±9.881) pg/ml, respectively, which were all significantly higher than those in subgroup A.Besides, the percentage of Th17 cells and the level of IL-17 in DLBCL subgroup D were significantly higher than those in subgroup B, C (P ＜ 0.05), while there was no difference between subgroup B and subgroup C.Conclusion Experiments in vitro confirmed that the percentage of Th17 cells in PBMCs of DLBCL patients was lower than that in healthy persons, and rituximab could elevate the percentage of Th17 cells in PBMCs of DLBCL patients.

AIM: To explore whether strontium ranelate ( Sr ) promotes osteogenic differentiation of rat bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) through the Hedgehog/Gli1 signaling pathway.METHODS:BMSCs were isolated from 4-week-old rats by adherent culture and induced to differentiate into osteoblasts .According to the experimental purposes , the cells were exposed to different concentrations of Sr , cyclopamine ( Cy, an inhibitor of Hedgehog receptor ) or Gli1-siR-NA.The expression of Gli1 and Runx2 in the cells was detected by Western blotting .The activity of alkaline phosphatase ( ALP) was measured by the method of colorimetry , and the mineralized nodules were observed under microscope with aliz-arin red staining .RESULTS:Exposure to Sr at concentrations of 0.1 to 5 mmol/L for 7 d markedly increased the expres-sion of Gli1 in the BMSCs , and the increase in Gli1 expression was the most obvious following Sr exposure at concentration of 3 mmol/L.Cy at concentration of 10 μmol/L inhibited Sr-induced up-regulation of Gli1 expression.Transfection of the BMSCs with Gli1-siRNA not only obviously inhibited Sr-induced up-regulation of Gli1 and Runx2 ( a downstream protein of Gli1) expression, but also antagonized Sr-induced enhancement of ALP activity and the formation of mineralized nodules . CONCLUSION:The Hedgehog/Gli1 pathway is involved in Sr-induced osteogenic differentiation of rat BMSCs .

Objective To investigate the protective effects of atorvastatin on hyperphosphate-induced rat vascular smooth muscle ceils (RVSMCs) calcification and to discuss the mechanism. Methods RVSMCs were placed in various culture media, including normal phosphate medium, high phosphate medium, ZVAD-FMK medium and atorvastatin medium.Calcium content and cell protein content were quantified by the o-cresolphthalein complexone method and BCA protein assay respectively. Calcification was visualized by yon Kossa staining. And cell apoptosis was quantified by ELISA. Results (1)At day 3, 6, 9, RVSMCs calcification occurred more frequently in high phosphate medium than that in normal phosphate medium (P<0.05). (2)At day 6, RVSMCs calcification was significantly inhibited in 1.0 μmol/L and 2.0 μmol/LZVAD-FMK medium (P<0.05). And in 10 nmol/L and I00 nmol/L statin medium, RVSMCscalcium deposition significantly decreased (P<0.05). (3)RVSMCs apoptosis and calcification occurredfrequently in high phosphate medium. And atorvastatin significantly inhibited RVSMCs apoptosisboth in long-term and short-term (P<0.05). Conclusions Hyperphosphate can induce the calcium deposition of RVSMCs in vitro. Atorvastatin protects RVSMCs from phosphate-induced calcification by inhibiting apoptosis.

Objective To evaluate the effect of parathyroid hormone (PTH) on the expression of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) in human renal tubular epithelial cells, and to explore the role of MAPK signaling pathway. Methods Real time RT-PCR, Western blot, and reporter gene assay were employed to detect PTH-induced CTGF expression in HK-2 cells. Inhibitors (PD98059 and U0126) of MAPK signaling pathway were used to confirm involved signal pathway. Results HK-2 cells had basic expression level of CTGF mRNA and protein, which were increased significantly after treatment with PTH. The luciferase activity was up-regulated to a higher level as compared with control group after treatment with 10-10 mol/L PTH for 12 h [(1.8884±0.0780) vs (0.9891±0.0300) A, P<0.01]. Moreover, a small amount of p-ERK1/2 was detected in normal HK-2 cells, but it was increased significantly in response to PTH activation, most remarkably when treated with 10-10 mol/L PTH for 30 min. Inhibitors of MAPK signaling pathway, PD98059 and U0126, noticeably inhibited the expression of CTGF mRNA and protein as well as gene promoters in HK-2 cells. Conclusion PTH can induce higher expression of CTGF in HK-2 cells probably via MAPK signaling pathway.

Objective To investigate the effect of parathyroid hormone (PTH) on the transition and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) expression of human renal proximal tubular epithelial cell line HK-2 . Methods The expression of CTGF mRNA and protein of HK-2 cells were measured by real time RT-PCR and Western blot respectively . The effect of PTH on the phenotypic transformation of HK-2 cells was examined by light microscopy . The expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) in HK-2 cells was detected by immunofluorescence . Results Basal level of CTGF mRNA and the protein expression were detected in HK-2 ceils . PTH upregulated the expression of CTGF mRNA and protein with the maximal response at the concentration of 10-10 mol/L and the best stimulating time was at 72 h . After exposure to PTH (10-10tool/L) for 12 hours, the highest level of luciferase activity was 1 .96 fold as compared to control (1 .888±0 .078 vs 0 .989±0 .030, P＜0 .01 ) . Untreated cells showed negligible expression of ±-SMA,whereas ±-SMA expression was significantly increased in cells treated with PTH . Conclusion PTH up-regulates CTGF expression and induces transition of HK-2 cells .