Objective To investigate the possible role and mechanism of activation of pyroptosis classical pathway and alterations in cell adhesion in calcium-containing kidney stones after the action of high concentration of Ca2+ on HK-2 cells.Methods HK-2 cells were cultured in the presence of different concentrations of CaCl2(0,0.1,0.5,1.0,2.0,4.0 and 8.0 g/L)for 24 hours,and cell counting Kit-8(CCK-8)and flow cytometry were used to determine the optimal treatment concentration.Subsequently,the ultrastructure of renal tubular epithelial cells under high Ca2+ condition was observed by transmission electron microscopy after Ca2+ treatment.DCFH-DA staining was used to detect intracellular reactive oxygen species production,and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction(qRT-PCR)and Western blot analysis were performed to examine the expression of pyroptosis-related proteins NLRP3,Caspase-1,gasdermin D(GSDMD),adhesive molecules osteopontin(OPN)and CD44 at mRNA and protein levels after high concentration Ca2+ treatment.The expression levels of pyroptosis-related inflammatory factors interleukin(IL)-1β,IL-18 and adhesive molecule monocyte chemotactic protein-1(MCP-1)were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)after high Ca2+ stimulation.Results Ca2+ showed cytotoxicity for HK-2 cell growth and can promote apoptosis.The higher the Ca2+ concentration,the more toxicity and apoptosis rate for HK-2 cell growth.High concentration of Ca2+ can promote pyroptosis-like morphological changes in HK-2 cells,including loss of cell membrane integrity,release of contents and numerous intracellular vacuoles.Compared with the control group,the expression levels of ROS were sequentially increased in the 1.0 g/L CaCl2 group and the 2.0 g/L CaCl2 group,and the expression levels of pyroptosis-related genes NLRP3,Caspase-1,GSDMD,and the pyroptosis-associated inflammatory factors IL-1β and IL-18,as well as the adhesion molecules OPN,CD44 and MCP-1 were significantly increased(P＜0.05).Conclusion High Ca2+ treatment can cause oxidative stress damage in HK-2 cells to produce ROS,which activates NLRP3 inflammasome,leads to the activation of the classical pathway of pyroptosis and increase the adhesion of cells,and ultimately leads to the formation of kidney stones.

To investigate the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of CACNA1C (SNPs rs58619945, rs7316246 and rs216008) and susceptibility of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) as well as the curative effect of non-sedating antihistamine drugs.
 Methods: Peripheral blood were extracted from 191 CSU patients to collect DNA. Urticaria Activity Score 7 (UAS7) and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) changes were collected from these patients with different non-sedating antihistamine drugs. PubMed retrieval system was used to select the 3 SNPs (rs58619945, rs7316246 and rs216008) of CACNA1C. Susceptibility of CSU and curative effect of non-sedating antihistamine drugs (desloratadine, mizolastine, fisofenadine) in 189 CSU patients and 105 controls with different SNPs were compared with Chi-squared test. Data of 105 southern Chinese controls were extracted from the 1 000 genome database.
 Results: Frequency of rs58619945 G allele in the CSU patients was significantly higher than that in the controls [OR(95%CI)=0.660(0.470-0.925), P=0.016]. However, there was no significant differences in rs7316246 and rs216008 between the CSU patients and the controls. Meanwhile there was no significant difference in general curative effect of the 3 drugs in the 3 SNPs (rs58619945: OR=0.843, P=0.454; rs7316246: OR=2.103, P=0.102; rs216008: OR=0.237, P=0.363). There was significant difference in different alleles of rs216008 in the patients administered by desloratadine [OR(95%CI)=0.480(0.247-0.933), P=0.029]. No difference was shown in the 3 SNPs in patients administered by mizolastine.
 Conclusion: The rs58619945 A/G might be related to susceptibility of CSU, and the rs216008 mutation might affect drug response of desloratadine.
Calcium Channels, L-Type ; genetics ; Chronic Disease ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Histamine H1 Antagonists, Non-Sedating ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Loratadine ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Urticaria ; drug therapy ; genetics