Difference in 24-Hour Urine Composition between Diabetic and Non-Diabetic Adults without Nephrolithiasis

Background

Diabetic patients are more likely to develop kidney stones than the general population. The underlying mechanisms for this disparity remain to be elucidated. Little is known about the relationship between urine composition and diabetes mellitus in non-stone-forming individuals. We sought to examine the differences in the 24-hour (24-h) urine composition between diabetic and non-diabetic adults who were not stone formers.

Methods

A convenience sample of 538 individuals without a history of nephrolithiasis, gout, hyperparathyroidism, or gastroenteric diseases participated in this study. The 24-h urine profiles of 115 diabetic adults were compared with those of 423 non-diabetic adults. Diabetes was defined by self-reported physician diagnosis or medication use. All participants were non-stone formers confirmed by urinary tract ultrasonography. Participants provided a fasting blood sample and a single 24-h urine collection for stone risk analysis. Student’s t-test was used to compare mean urinary values. Linear regression models were adjusted for age, gender, body mass index, hypertension, fasting serum glucose, serum total cholesterol, estimated creatinine clearance rate and urinary factors.

Results

Univariable analysis showed that the diabetic participants had significantly higher 24-h urine volumes and lower urine calcium and magnesium excretions than non-diabetic participants (all P < 0.05). After multivariate adjustment, no significant differences in 24-h urine composition were observed between diabetic and non-diabetic participants except for a slightly increased 24-h urine volume in diabetic participants (all P > 0.05). The main limitation of this study is that the convenience samples and self-reported data may have been sources of bias.

Conclusion

Our data showed that there were no differences in 24-h urine composition between diabetic and non-diabetic adults who are not stone formers. The reason for it might be the improved glycemic control in diabetic individuals in our study. Therefore, a tighter glycemic control might reduce stone formation in diabetic adults.     

Comparative Screening of Digestion Tract Toxic Genes in Proteus mirabilis

Proteus mirabilis is a common urinary tract pathogen, and may induce various inflammation symptoms. Its notorious ability to resist multiple antibiotics and to form urinary tract stones makes its treatment a long and painful process, which is further challenged by the frequent horizontal gene transferring events in P. mirabilis genomes. Three strains of P. mirabilis {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"C02011","term_id":"1434241"}}C02011/{"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"C04010","term_id":"1467261"}}C04010/C04013 were isolated from a local outbreak of a food poisoning event in Shenzhen, China. Our hypothesis is that new genes may have been acquired horizontally to exert the digestion tract infection and toxicity. The functional characterization of these three genomes shows that each of them independently acquired dozens of virulent genes horizontally from the other microbial genomes. The representative strain {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"C02011","term_id":"1434241"}}C02011 induces the symptoms of both vomit and diarrhea, and has recently acquired a complete type IV secretion system and digestion tract toxic genes from the other bacteria.     

广藿香香叶醇合酶基因克隆及表达分析

香叶醇合酶(geraniol synthase,GES)是香叶醇形成过程中非常重要的酶,是萜类代谢途径的限速酶。根据课题组广藿香转录组数据中的GES 转录本序列设计基因全长扩增引物,采用RT PCR方法克隆了广藿香GES基因的全长cDNA序列。对该基因进行了相关的生物信息学分析,并利用荧光实时定量PCR法检测了PcGES1基因在4个广藿香栽培种中不同时期茎、叶中的表达情况。结果显示：广藿香GES基因包含一个完整的ORF框,长1 734 bp,编码577个氨基酸,命名为PcGES1,GenBank登录号为KF926075 ;PcGES1基因编码的氨基酸序列与罗勒GES基因编码的氨基酸序列最为相近。广藿香GES蛋白定位在叶绿体中,无跨膜区域。PcGES1主要在叶中表达,老叶中表达量最高;从不同栽培种来看,PcGES1在石牌广藿香和高要广藿香中表达模式相似,在海南广藿香与印尼广藿香中表达相似,在海南广藿香老叶中表达最高。该研究结果为进一步阐明广藿香萜类代谢途径奠定了基础。     

Application of next-generation sequencing to screen for pathogenic mutations in 123 unrelated Chinese patients with Marfan syndrome or a related disease

Marfan syndrome(MFS) is a systemic connective tissue disease principally affecting the ocular, skeletal and cardiovascular systems. This autosomal dominant disorder carries a prevalence of 1:3,000 to 1:5,000. This study aims to define the mutational spectrum of MFS related genes in Chinese patients and to establish genotype-phenotype correlations in MFS. Panel-based targeted next-generation sequencing was used to analyze the FBN1, TGFBR1 and TGFBR2 genes in 123 unrelated Chinese individuals with MFS or a related disease. Genotype-phenotype correlation analyses were performed in mutation-positive patients. The results showed that 97 cases/families(78.9%; 97/123) harbor at least one(likely) pathogenic mutation, most of which were in FBN1; four patients had TGFBR1/2 mutations; and one patient harbored a SMAD3 mutation. Three patients had two FBN1 mutations, and all patients showed classical MFS phenotypes. Patients with a dominant negative-FBN1 mutation had a higher prevalence of ectopia lentis(EL). Patients carrying a haploinsufficiency-FBN1 mutation tended to have aortic dissection without EL. This study extends the spectrum of genetic backgrounds of MFS and enriches our knowledge of genotype-phenotype correlations.     

Genetic Analysis of an Emerging GII.P2–GII.2 Norovirus Associated with a 2016 Outbreak of Acute Gastroenteritis in China

<正>Dear Editor,Noroviruses are positive-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses belonging to Caliciviridae and account for more than 50%of all acute gastroenteritis (AGE) outbreaks worldwide and cause an estimated 200,000 deaths per year among children\5 years of age, primarily in developing countries (Hall et al. 2012; Glass et al. 2009). The norovirus genome contains three open reading frames (ORFs).     

Nitrogen fertilizers promote plant growth and assist in manganese (Mn) accumulation by Polygonum pubescens Blume cultured in Mn tailings soil

Abstract

This study examined how different nitrogen (N) forms and application levels promote plant growth and assist in manganese (Mn) remediation of Polygonum pubescens Blume (P. pubescens) cultured in soil with a high Mn level. The effects of ammonium chloride (a) and urea (u), at three application levels (10, 20, and 30?mg L^?1 N) and control (no N addition, CK) on the growth, Mn accumulation, and enzymatic anti-oxidative defenses of P. pubescens were examined. In general, both ammonium-N and urea-N promoted the plant mass and height of P. pubescens. The total Mn amount of roots, stems, and leaves in N treatments were higher (p?<?0.05) than that of CK. The ammonium-N treatments showed greater plant biomass and Mn accumulation compared to the urea-N ones. In general, the accumulations of Mn, Cr, Zn, and Cu were significantly lower (p?<?0.05) in the N fertilizer treatment than those in the control; while the accumulations of Pb were higher (p?<?0.05) in P. pubescens across all N fertilizer treatments than those in the control. The N addition decreased the contents of O₂^? and H₂O₂ in the leaves of P. pubescens, while increasing the activities of enzymatic anti-oxidative defenses.     

Erratum to: MYH7B variants cause hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by activating the CaMK-signaling pathway

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