In hospitalized Chinese during the last ten years, CA-ARF was still predominant with simpler cause and lower mortality, whereas HA-ARF was increasing with more complicated cause and higher mortality.

Background/Aims: Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is highly expressed in the kidney and recognized to be renoprotective by degrading Angiotensin II to Angiotensin (1-7) in diabetic nephropathy. However, little is known about the role of urinary ACE2 (UACE2) in diabetes. The present study was performed to evaluate UACE2 levels in type 2 diabetic patients with various degrees of albuminuria and its associations with metabolic parameters. The effect of RAS inhibitors on UACE2 excretion was also assessed. Methods: A total of 132 type 2 diabetic patients with different degrees of albuminuria and 34 healthy volunteers were studied. UACE2 levels and activity were measured. Results: Compared to healthy controls, UACE2 to creatinine (UACE2/Cr) levels were significantly increased in both albuminuric and non-albuminuric diabetic patients. UACE2/Cr levels were much higher in hypertensive diabetic patients compared with their normotensive counterparts and treatment with RAS inhibitors markedly attenuated the augmentation. Furthermore, UACE2/Cr was positively correlated with fasting blood glucose, hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C), triglyceride, and total cholesterol. In multiple regression analysis, UACE2/Cr was independently predicted by HbA1C and RAS inhibitors treatment. Conclusions: UACE2 increased in type 2 diabetic patients with various degrees of albuminuria and RAS inhibitors suppresses UACE2 excretion. UACE2 might potentially function as a marker for monitoring the metabolic status and therapeutic response of RAS inhibitors in diabetes.

. Upregulation of soluble epoxide hydrolase in proximal tubular cells mediated proteinuria-induced renal damage. Am

Background Idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease (iMCD) is an uncommon lymphoproliferative disorder and lacks treatment consensus. Herein, we report a case of iMCD complicated with Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) and secondary membranous nephropathy (SMN). Case presentation A 45-year-old female with dry mouth for 3 months and anasarca and proteinuria for 2 months was admitted. She also experienced chest tightness, wheezing, fever, weight loss, moderate proteinuria and hypoalbuminemia. A computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a tissue mass in the thymus area and enlarged multiple lymph nodes. Her symptoms did not improve after resection of the thymus mass. The pathological findings were “reactive hyperplasia of the mediastinal lymph nodes and thymic hyperplasia”. Lymph node biopsy findings confirmed iMCD with human herpes virus-8 (HHV-8) negativity. Based on anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) 1:320, anti-SSA and anti-SSB antibody positivity, salivary flow less than 0.1 ml/min and lip biopsy with focal lymphocytic sialadenitis, SS was diagnosed. Kidney biopsy showed secondary membranous nephropathy with endocapillary cell proliferation and infiltration of plasma cells and lymphocytes in the tubulointerstitium. Serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were significantly increased, and therapy with tocilizumab (anti-IL-6 receptor antibody) worked well. The combination of cyclophosphamide (CyS) with methylprednisolone (MP) maintained satisfactory remission. Conclusions Our case of iMCD with SS and SMN is rare. There is a need for increased awareness of the disease to avoid unnecessary procedures and misdiagnoses. IL-6 was extremely high, and there was a rapid response to anti-IL-6 receptor agents. The combination of CyS with MP maintained complete remission.

Objectives: To investigate the epidemiology, diagnosis and prognosis of acute renal failure (ARF) in hospitalized Chinese during the last decade. Methods: The diagnosis of patients with ARF in Peking University Third Hospital from January 1994 to December 2003 was reconfirmed and the data of epidemiology, etiology and prognosis were analyzed. Results: Only 209 discharged cases were diagnosed with ARF and all were reconfirmed. Two peak occurrences were found at ages of 35–45 and 60–80 with a male predominance of approximately 59.7%. Patients diagnosed with ARF accounted for 1.19‰ of the admissions in the same period and increased significantly in the last 5 years (p = 0.038). The creatinine level at diagnosis was 345.8 ± 122.6 µmol/l and had no significant change (p > 0.05). The percent of hospital-acquired ARF (HA-ARF) demonstrated a significant increase in 1999–2003 compared to 1994–1998 (p = 0.008). Intrarenal ARF accounted for 73.69% and was multifactorial, with drugs, infections and operations as leading causes. Renal biopsy was performed in 37.32% (78/209) with 53.84% (42/78) having acute interstitial nephritis. Maintenance dialysis was discontinued in 46.41% because their renal function completely or partially recovered. The overall mortality was 37.91% without improvement over time. The mortality was 6.25% for patients in nephrology department, but 65.51% in ICU (p < 0.001), and was 21.6% for patients in community-acquired ARF (CA-ARF), but 63.1% in HA-ARF (p < 0.001). Conclusions: During the past 10 years, the number of patients diagnosed with ARF has been rising in hospitalized Chinese. HA-ARF was the major source, and infections, drugs and operations were the leading causes. The diagnosis and prognosis of acute renal failure did not improve much in this population over the decade studied.