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Background: In recent years, sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2is) have been increasingly used in the treatment of patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This updated metaanalysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of SGLT2is for patients with NAFLD. Methods: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Wan Fang, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and VIP databases were searched for relevant studies from inception to April 30, 2021. Values of weighted mean differences (WMDs) and risk ratios (RRs) were determined for continuous and dichotomous outcomes, respectively. Results: A total of 1,498 patients with NAFLD from 20 studies were included for further analysis. Pooled analyses indicated significant improvements in body mass index [WMD: −0.84 kg/m 2 , 95% CI ( −1.09, −0.60)], alanine aminotransferase [WMD: −4.36 U/L, 95% CI ( −7.17, −1.54)], aspartate aminotransferase [WMD: −2.94 U/L, 95% CI ( −5.33, −0.55)], fasting plasma glucose [WMD: −4.08 mmol/L, 95% CI ( −6.21, −1.95)] and fibrosis-4 index [WMD: −0.08, 95% CI ( −0.11, −0.05)] following SGLT2i treatment ( p < 0.01 for all above parameters). There was no significant difference in the incidence of total adverse events between the SGLT2i group and the control group (RR = 0.78, 95% CI (0.58, 1.06), p = 0.11]. Conclusion: SGLT2is seem to be a promising treatment for patients with NAFLD to improve metabolic and fibrosis indexes without increasing the incidence of adverse events. Most included studies were conducted in NAFLD patients with diabetes. Therefore, the results of this meta-analysis are more applicable to the diabetic population.

This study aimed to determine the effect of topically applied Laminaria polysaccharide (LP) on skin aging. We applied ointment containing LP (10, 25, and 50 μg/g) or vitamin E (10 μg/g) to the dorsal skin of aging mice for 12 months and young control mice for 4 weeks. Electron microscopy analysis of skin samples revealed that LP increased dermal thickness and skin collagen content. Tissue inhibitor of metalloprotease- (TIMP-) 1 expression was upregulated while that of matrix metalloproteinase- (MMP-) 1 was downregulated in skin tissue of LP-treated as compared to untreated aging mice. Additionally, phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 was higher in aging skin than in young skin, while LP treatment suppressed phospho-JNK expression. LP application also enhanced the expression of antioxidative enzymes in skin tissue, causing a decrease in malondialdehyde levels and increases in superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase levels relative to those in untreated aging mice. These results indicate that LP inhibits MMP-1 expression by preventing oxidative stress and JNK phosphorylation, thereby delaying skin collagen breakdown during aging.

ObjectiveWe aimed to analyze the risk factors affecting all-cause mortality in diabetic patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) and to develop and validate a nomogram for predicting the 90-day survival rate of patients.MethodsClinical data of diabetic patients with AKI who were diagnosed at The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University from April 30, 2011, to April 30, 2021, were collected. A total of 1,042 patients were randomly divided into a development cohort and a validation cohort at a ratio of 7:3. The primary study endpoint was all-cause death within 90 days of AKI diagnosis. Clinical parameters and demographic characteristics were analyzed using Cox regression to develop a prediction model for survival in diabetic patients with AKI, and a nomogram was then constructed. The concordance index (C-index), receiver operating characteristic curve, and calibration plot were used to evaluate the prediction model.ResultsThe development cohort enrolled 730 patients with a median follow-up time of 87 (40–98) days, and 86 patients (11.8%) died during follow-up. The 90-day survival rate was 88.2% (644/730), and the recovery rate for renal function in survivors was 32.9% (212/644). Multivariate analysis showed that advanced age (HR = 1.064, 95% CI = 1.043–1.085), lower pulse pressure (HR = 0.964, 95% CI = 0.951–0.977), stage 3 AKI (HR = 4.803, 95% CI = 1.678–13.750), lower 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (HR = 0.944, 95% CI = 0.930–0.960), and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (HR = 2.056, 95% CI = 1.287–3.286) were independent risk factors affecting the all-cause death of diabetic patients with AKI (all p &lt; 0.01). The C-indices of the prediction cohort and the validation cohort were 0.880 (95% CI = 0.839–0.921) and 0.798 (95% CI = 0.720–0.876), respectively. The calibration plot of the model showed excellent consistency between the prediction probability and the actual probability.ConclusionWe developed a new prediction model that has been internally verified to have good discrimination, calibration, and clinical value for predicting the 90-day survival rate of diabetic patients with AKI.