Increased Urinary Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 in Renal Transplant Patients with Diabetes

Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is expressed in the kidney and may be a renoprotective enzyme, since it converts angiotensin (Ang) II to Ang-(1-7). ACE2 has been detected in urine from patients with chronic kidney disease. We measured urinary ACE2 activity and protein levels in renal transplant patients (age 54 yrs, 65% male, 38% diabetes, n = 100) and healthy controls (age 45 yrs, 26% male, n = 50), and determined factors associated with elevated urinary ACE2 in the patients. Urine from transplant subjects was also assayed for ACE mRNA and protein. No subjects were taking inhibitors of the renin-angiotensin system. Urinary ACE2 levels were significantly higher in transplant patients compared to controls (p = 0.003 for ACE2 activity, and p≤0.001 for ACE2 protein by ELISA or western analysis). Transplant patients with diabetes mellitus had significantly increased urinary ACE2 activity and protein levels compared to non-diabetics (p<0.001), while ACE2 mRNA levels did not differ. Urinary ACE activity and protein were significantly increased in diabetic transplant subjects, while ACE mRNA levels did not differ from non-diabetic subjects. After adjusting for confounding variables, diabetes was significantly associated with urinary ACE2 activity (p = 0.003) and protein levels (p<0.001), while female gender was associated with urinary mRNA levels for both ACE2 and ACE. These data indicate that urinary ACE2 is increased in renal transplant recipients with diabetes, possibly due to increased shedding from tubular cells. Urinary ACE2 could be a marker of renal renin-angiotensin system activation in these patients

Responses of birds and mammals to long-established wind farms in India

Wind turbines have been recognised as an alternative and clean-energy source with a low environmental impact. The selection of sites for wind-farm often creates serious conservation concerns on biodiversity. Wind turbines have become a serious threat to migratory birds as they collide with the turbine blades in some regions across the globe, while the impact on terrestrial mammals is relatively less explored. In this context, we assessed the responses of birds and mammals to the wind turbines in central Karnataka, India from January 2016 to May 2018 using carcass searches to quantify animal collisions (i.e., birds and bats), fxed radius point count for bird population parameters, and an occupancy framework for assessing the factor that determines the spatial occurrence of terrestrial mammals. The mean annual animal fatality rate per wind turbine was 0.26/year. Species richness, abundance, and unique species of birds were relatively higher in control sites over wind turbine sites. Species and functional compositions of birds in control sites were diferent from wind turbine sites, explaining the varied patterns of bird assemblages of diferent feeding guilds. Blackbuck, Chinkara, Golden Jackal, and Jungle Cat were less likely to occupy sites with a high number of wind turbines. The study indicates that certain bird and mammal species avoided wind turbine-dominated sites, afecting their distribution pattern. This is of concern to the management of the forested areas with wind turbines. We raised conservation issues and mitigating measures to overcome the negative efects of wind turbines on animals