1-Ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide interference with Lowry method

1-Ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC) was tested for interference with the Lowry method of protein determination. The EDC interference was nearly additive at both 660 and 750 nm. Blue-colored complex developed in the case of EDC and showed maximum absorbance at 750 nm, similar to the bovine serum albumin (BSA) estimation. In time response analysis, blue-colored complex was developed after 30min of incubation in both cases (EDC and BSA); therefore, it followed the same kinetic pattern of color development as that of BSA. Interference is believed to be caused by the reduction of the folin–ciocalteu reagent by EDC, resulting in increased blue-colored complex and apparently causing increased protein content of the sample

Identifying outcomes important to patients with glomerular disease and their caregivers

Background and objectives Shared decision making in patients with glomerular disease remains challenging because outcomes important to patients remain largely unknown. We aimed to identify and prioritize outcomes important to patients and caregivers and to describe reasons for their choices. Design, setting, participants, & measurements We purposively sampled adult patients with glomerular disease and their caregivers from Australia, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Participants identified, discussed, and ranked outcomes in focus groups using the nominal group technique; a relative importance score (between zero and one) was calculated. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically. Results Across 16 focus groups, 134 participants (range, 19–85 years old; 51%women), including 101 patients and 33 caregivers, identified 58 outcomes. The ten highest-ranked out comes were kidney function(importance score of 0.42), mortality (0.29), need for dialysis or transplant (0.22), life participation (0.18), fatigue (0.17), anxiety (0.13), family impact (0.12), infection and immunity (0.12), ability to work (0.11), and BP (0.11). Three themes explained the reasons for these rankings: Constraining day-to-day experience, impaired agency and control over health, and threats to future health and family. Conclusions Patients with glomerular disease and their caregivers highly prioritize kidney health and survival, but they also prioritize life participation, fatigue, anxiety, and family impact. © 2020 by the American Society of Nephrology

Emergence of a Complex Relationship between HIV-1 and the microRNA Pathway

Recent experimental evidences support the existence of an increasingly complex and multifaceted interaction between viruses and the microRNA-guided RNA silencing machinery of human cells. The discovery of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), which are designed to mediate cleavage of specific messenger RNAs (mRNAs), prompted virologists to establish therapeutic strategies based on siRNAs with the aim to suppress replication of several viruses, including human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). It has been appreciated only recently that viral RNAs can also be processed endogenously by the microRNA-generating enzyme Dicer or recognized by cellular miRNAs, in processes that could be viewed as an adapted antiviral defense mechanism. Known to repress mRNA translation through recognition of specific binding sites usually located in their 3′ untranslated region, miRNAs of host or viral origin may exert regulatory effects towards host and/or viral genes and influence viral replication and/or the host response to viral infection. This article summarizes our current state of knowledge on the relationship between HIV-1 and miRNA-guided RNA silencing, and discusses the different aspects of their interaction