No abstract

Nephrolithiasis was associated with high melamine-exposure levels. A combination of B-ultrasonography and urinalysis is suitable for screening for pediatric nephrolithiasis caused by melamine poisoning. The condition can be resolved with a conservative treatment approach in patients without serious clinical symptoms who have normal kidney function.

Background: Although reduced red blood cell (RBC) lifespan has been reported to be a contributory factor to anemia in patients with end-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD), there are limited data regarding RBC lifespan in early-stage CKD. Serum erythropoietin (EPO) is considered a primary causative factor of renal anemia. The aims of this study were to compare the RBC lifespan, serum EPO levels, and other renal anemia indicators across CKD-stage groups of patients and to analyze the impacts of etiological factors on renal anemia. Methods: A cohort of 74 non-smoking patients with CKD were enrolled, including 15 in stage 1, 18 in stage 2, 15 in stage 3, 15 in stage 4, and 11 in stage 5. RBC lifespan was determined by CO breath tests. Potential correlations of hemoglobin (Hb) concentration with RBC lifespan, reticulocyte count (Ret), and levels of EPO, ferritin, folic acid, and vitamin B12 were analyzed. Results: CKD progression was associated with decreases in (Hb) and RBC lifespan. RBC lifespan durations in CKD stages 1–5 were 122 ± 50, 112 ± 26, 90 ± 32, 88 ± 28, and 60 ± 24 days, respectively. RBC lifespan means for the stage 3, 4 and 5 groups were significantly shorter than those for the stage 1 and 2 groups. Serum EPO did not differ significantly between the CKD stage groups. (Hb) correlated directly with RBC lifespan (r = 0.372, p = 0.002) and Ret (r = 0.308, p = 0.011), but did not correlate with serum EPO, ferritin, folic acid, or vitamin B12 levels. Conclusions: Reduced RBC lifespan in early-stage CKD, demonstrated in this study, suggests that increased RBC destruction may play a more important etiological role in renal anemia than other indicators in patients with CKD.

Objective: Aberrantly expressed exosomal circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been reported in various human cancers. Nevertheless, it remains elusive in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC). Herein, based on RNA-seq, we systematically uncovered the expression and implication of exosomal circRNAs in cSCC.Methods: Plasma exosomes derived from cSCC and healthy subjects were characterized by nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and western blot. Differentially expressed exosomal circular RNAs (circRNAs) were screened by RNA-seq analysis, which were validated by RT-qPCR. Among them, the biological structure of circ-CYP24A1 was validated by Sanger sequencing and RNase R digestion. Si-circ-CYP24A1 was transfected into exosomes, followed by incubation with A431 and SCL-1 cells. Then, viability, apoptosis, migration, and invasion were evaluated by CCK-8, TUNEL staining and migration assays.Results: This study identified 25 up- and 76 down-regulated exosomal circRNAs in cSCC than healthy subjects. Among them, circulating circ-CYP24A1 was confirmed to be up-regulated in cSCC. Circ-CYP24A1 had a covalently closed circular structure and was not sensitive to RNase R digestion. After incubation with si-circ-CYP24A1-transfected exosomes, proliferation, migration, and invasion were lowered while apoptosis was enhanced in A431 and SCL-1 cells. Meanwhile, si-circ-CYP24A1-transfected exosomes significantly decreased the expression of downstream targets CDS2, MAVS, and SOGA in cSCC cells.Conclusion: Collectively, our study identified that targeting exosomal circ-CYP24A1 could suppress cSCC progression by weakening tumor malignant behaviors, which might provide a promising therapeutic target and non-invasive diagnostic biomarker for cSCC.