Herbal medicine and diabetic kidney disease.

Implication for health policy/practice/research/medical education Diabetic kidney disease is the leading cause of end-stage renal failure worldwide, however current treatments remain suboptimal. Recently various plants have shown beneficial effects not only on kidney function in diabetes mellitus, but also on kidney toxicities induced by some drugs or toxins. The active substances recognized in these plants include polysaccharides, flavonoids, xanthones and peptide

Impact of momordica charantia extract on kidney function and structure in mice

Background: Bitter Melon (BM) is known for its hypoglycemic effect and is commonly used in populations. Objectives: This study examined the effects and safety of bitter melon fruit in laboratory mice. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study 70 male mice (25-30 gr) were randomly divided into 7 groups. The mice were injected intraperitoneally with single doses of 0, 100, 500, 1000, 2000 and 4000 mg/kg and multiple doses 500 mg/kg daily for 7 days. The mice were then observed for 72 hours before sacrificing. Immediately kidneys were taken out for histological examinations. Tubular cell vacuolization and flattening as well as hyaline casts, debris and dilatation of tubular lumen were the morphologic lesions which were assessed with scores from 0 to 4, while zero score addressed normal renal tissue. Serum samples were assayed for kidney function (creatinine; Cr and Blood Urea Nitrogen; BUN). Blood and bitter melon antioxidant activities were measured, too. Data were analyzed with Stata software (Stata Corp. 2011. Stata Statistical Software: Release 12. College Station, TX: Stata Corp LP) using ANOVA and Bonferroni tests. Results: All single dose groups showed normal behavior after the dosing and no statistical changes were observed in blood parameters (p>0.05). Histological examinations revealed normal organ structures, however, the group treated for 7 days showed statistically a significant change in BUN (p=0.002) and a borderline significance in Cr (p=0.051). Conclusions: Administration of up to 4000 mg/kg did not have any effect on the mice kidney function and histology, however chronic administration were nephrotoxic. More studies with different dosage regimens are suggested. © 2014, Society of Diabetic Nephropathy Prevention. All rights reserved

Ameliorative Effect of Green Tea Against Contrast-induced Renal Tubular Cell Injury

Introduction. Reactive oxygen species are a mediator of kidney damage by contrast media, and green tea is a potent-free radical scavenger. This study was designed to examine whether green tea could protect against the nephrotoxicity induced by contrast media. Materials and Methods. Forty rats were randomly divided into 4 groups. Group 1 was control; group 2 received contrast medium (intravenous iodixanol, 10 mL/kg, as a single dose); group 3 received contrast medium and then green tea extract for 3 days (10 mg/kg/d, intraperitoneal); and group 4 first received green tea and then contrast medium. Histological changes (degeneration, vacuolization of tubular renal cells, dilatation of tubular lumen, and presence of debris in the lumens) were assessed and recorded as scores from zero to 4. The sum of scores were used as the overal renal injury level. Results. Groups 3 and 4 with green tea treatment had significantly higher overall scores than the control group, but significantly lower scores than group 2 with contrast medium only. A similar trend was seen for dilatation and degeneration levels. Vacuolization level was not significantly lower in the green tea groups as compared to the contrast medium group. Debris level was not significantly lower in group 3 than group 2. The differences were not significant between groups 3 and 4. Conclusions. We observed beneficial effect of green tea against nephrotoxicity of contrast media. Green tea extract may offer an inexpensive and nontoxic intervention strategy in patients with a risk for nephrotoxicity with contrast media

The theme of the world diabetes day 2014; healthy living and diabetes; a nephrology viewpoint.

Annually, on November 14, the world diabetes day (WDD) is celebrated. WDD is a campaign led by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and its member associations throughout the world. It was created in 1991 by IDF and World Health Organization (WHO) in response to increasing concerns about the intensifying threat of diabetes worldwide. The WDD 2014 organization marks the first of a three-year (2014-16) emphasis on "healthy living and diabetes". Replacement of whole grain and cereal-based foods with refined grains in diet planning could be an operative and practical strategy in type II diabetic patients. This strategy beyond the development of glycemic control, leads to more benefits for management of other features of diabetes, diminution of diabetes-induced metabolic disorders, and prevents long-term complications especially diabetic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease

A biochemical study on ameliorative effect of green tea (Camellia sinensis) extract against contrast media induced acute kidney injury.

INTRODUCTION Reactive oxygen species have been shown to be mediators of kidney injury and green tea polyphenols are potent-free radical scavengers. OBJECTIVES In this study we sought to examine whether green tea was able to protect renal toxicity induced by contrast media or not. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this experimental study 40 rats were randomly divided into four groups including: 1) control group 2) contrast media group 3) contrast media plus green tea 4) Green tea pretreatment and contrast media group. Blood urea Nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine were assessed for severity of kidney injury. RESULTS Serum creatinine level was higher in group II than in other groups (p<0.001). Treatment (group 3) or pretreatment (group 4) with green tea significantly reduced blood creatinine level when compared with contrast media group (group 2). CONCLUSION In this study, beneficial property of green tea, against renal toxicity of contrast media was observed. Green tea extract is an inexpensive, nontoxic, and effective treatment modality in individuals with a risk for acute kidney injury of contrast media

Epigenetic modification with trichostatin A does not correct specific errors of somatic cell nuclear transfer at the transcriptomic level; highlighting the non-random nature of oocyte-mediated reprogramming errors

Pre- and post- implantation development. Effect of TSA treatment on in vitro and in vivo development of cloned embryos compared to fertilized counterparts. (DOCX 18 kb

Comparative evaluation of the frequency of myofibroblasts between oral and cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas

Introduction: Differentiation of fibroblasts to myofibroblasts is an initial and very important event in tumor genesis. Myofibroblasts produce proteinases that stimulate invasion in cancers. Due to the more malignant potential of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) compared to cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) , the aim of the present study was to compare myofibroblasts between OSCC and CSCC to understand whether myofibroblasts can help more malignant potential of OSCC compared to CSCC or not. Materials &Methods: This cross-sectional study included 40 cases of OSCC and CSCC and 20 cases of normal skin and normal oral mucosa. Then, 4-micron sections of paraffin-embedded tissue blocks of studied groups were stained immunohistochemically with α-SMA antibody. Mean percentage of myofibroblasts was calculated in invasive fronts of OSCCs with CSCCs and also in normal samples and staining intensity of cells for α-SMA marker and distribution pattern of myofibroblasts were determined. Results: The differences of average percentage of myofibroblasts in OSCC and CSCC compared to normal groups were significant (Pvalue= 0.007 and Pvalue=0.003 respectively), but when we compared OSCCs and CSCCs, the difference was not significant. Also, there were no significant differences between OSCC and CSCC with regard to staining intensity and pattern. Conclusion: Different biologic behavior of OSCC compared to CSCC doesn’t depend on myofibroblasts and other factors can be involved

Target trial emulation using hospital-based observational data: demonstration and application in COVID-19

Methodological biases are common in observational studies evaluating treatment effectiveness. The objective of this study is to emulate a target trial in a competing risks setting using hospital-based observational data. We extend established methodology accounting for immortal time bias and time-fixed confounding biases to a setting where no survival information beyond hospital discharge is available: a condition common to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) research data. This exemplary study includes a cohort of 618 hospitalized patients with COVID-19. We describe methodological opportunities and challenges that cannot be overcome applying traditional statistical methods. We demonstrate the practical implementation of this trial emulation approach via clone–censor–weight techniques. We undertake a competing risk analysis, reporting the cause-specific cumulative hazards and cumulative incidence probabilities. Our analysis demonstrates that a target trial emulation framework can be extended to account for competing risks in COVID-19 hospital studies. In our analysis, we avoid immortal time bias, time-fixed confounding bias, and competing risks bias simultaneously. Choosing the length of the grace period is justified from a clinical perspective and has an important advantage in ensuring reliable results. This extended trial emulation with the competing risk analysis enables an unbiased estimation of treatment effects, along with the ability to interpret the effectiveness of treatment on all clinically important outcomes.This research was funded by the German Research Foundation (original: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft), grant number WO 1746/5-1.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Epigenetic modification does not determine the time of POU5F1 transcription activation in cloned bovine embryos.

Purpose To investigate the effect of epigenetic modification on pattern, time and capacity of transcription activation of POU5F1, the key marker of pluripotency, in cloned bovine embryos. Methods Bovine fibroblasts were stably transfected with POU5F1 promoter-driven enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). This provided a visible marker to investigate the effect of post-activation treatment of cloned bovine embryos with trichostatin A (TSA) on time and capacity of POU5F1 expression and its subsequent effect on in vitro development of cloned bovine embryos. Results Irrespective of TSA treatment, POU5F1 expression was not detected until 8–16 cell stage, but was detected in both inner cell mass and trophectoderm at the blastocyst stage. TSA treatment significantly increased POU5F1 expression, and the yield and quality of cloned embryo development compared to control. Conclusion The POU5F1 expression of cloned embryos is strictly controlled by the stage of embryo development and may not be altered by TSA-mediated changes occur in DNA-methylation and histone-acetylation of the genome