OBJECTIVETo evaluate the significance of the serum cystatin C (Cys-C) in assessing renal dysfunction in preeclamptic women.

METHODSNinety-six women with normal pregnancies and 48 with severe preeclampsia were examined for 24-hour creatinine clearance (CrCl), serum creatinine (Scr), Cys-C, uric acid (UA) and beta microglobulin (MG) concentrations during the second and third trimesters and postpartum in severe preeclamptic patients. These indexes were analyzed to estimate the glomerular filtration rate.

RESULTSThe concentrations of Scr, UA and MG were significantly higher in the third trimester than in the second trimester in women with normal pregnancies, where serum Cys-C levels showed no significant variations. Severe preeclamptic patients exhibited significantly higher serum Cys-C levels in the third than in the second trimester. Correlation analyses demonstrated significant negative correlations between Cys-C and 24-hour CrCl in the second and third trimesters in all the 144 pregnant women and in the postpartum period in severe preeclamptic patients.

CONCLUSIONSerum Cys-C can serve as a good indicator for assessing renal function in severe preeclamptic women from antepartum to postpartum periods.

Case-Control Studies ; Creatinine ; blood ; Cystatin C ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney ; physiopathology ; Pre-Eclampsia ; blood ; physiopathology ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Trimester, Second ; Pregnancy Trimester, Third ; Retrospective Studies ; Uric Acid ; blood ; beta 2-Microglobulin ; blood

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis (OP) has become a major public health issue, threatening the bone health of middle-aged and elderly people from all around the world. Changes in the gut microbiota (GM) are correlated with the maintenance of bone mass and bone quality. However, research results in this field remain highly controversial, and no systematic review or meta-analysis of the relationship between GM and OP has been conducted. This paper addresses this shortcoming, focusing on the difference in the GM abundance between OP patients and healthy controls based on previous 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing results, in order to provide new clinical reference information for future customized prevention and treatment options of OP. METHODS: According to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), we comprehensively searched the databases of PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). In addition, we applied the R programming language version 4.0.3 and Stata 15.1 software for data analysis. We also implemented the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS), funnel plot analysis, sensitivity analysis, Egger's test, and Begg's test to assess the risk of bias. RESULTS: This research ultimately considered 12 studies, which included the fecal GM data of 2033 people (604 with OP and 1429 healthy controls). In the included research papers, it was observed that the relative abundance of Lactobacillus and Ruminococcus increased in the OP group, while the relative abundance for Bacteroides of Bacteroidetes increased (except for Ireland). Meanwhile, Firmicutes, Blautia, Alistipes, Megamonas, and Anaerostipes showed reduced relative abundance in Chinese studies. In the linear discriminant analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) analysis, certain bacteria showed statistically significant results consistently across different studies. CONCLUSIONS: This observational meta-analysis revealed that changes in the GM were correlated with OP, and variations in some advantageous GM might involve regional differences.
Middle Aged ; Aged ; Humans ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome/genetics* ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics* ; Genes, rRNA ; Osteoporosis ; Feces