Narrow Results

Huai-Shan-Yao (Chinese yam; Rhizome Dioscoreae) is a common food in china. In the present study, we evaluated the protective effects of the crude extract of Huai-Shan-Yao on acute kidney and liver injuries in rats induced by ethanol. Results of pharmacological, biochemical and pathologic observations all showed that rats treated with the extract of Huai-Shan-Yao had decreased damage in renal tubules as well as decreased inflammation in the central vein and necrosis in the liver tissue.

This research explored and identified the protein composition of rat kidneys after acupuncture at the Taixi acupoint (KI3). Twelve adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into a control group (n = 6) and an acupuncture group (n = 6). Rats in the acupuncture group received electroacupuncture on the bilateral KI3 for seven days. The kidneys were perfused with ice-cold saline and all kidney proteins were isolated. After protein sample preparation, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) was performed. The interesting spots were analyzed using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). There were nine protein spots with three-fold up-regulation in the kidney after the acupuncture. NAD-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase and quinone reductase, the proteins involved in energy metabolism, the reduction of endogenous quinones, chemoprotection, and electrophilic stress, were identified. The data indicated that acupuncture at the KI3 of the kidney meridian of the foot shaoyin was able to increase NAD-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase and quinone reductase expression in the kidney, and supported the relationship between the kidney and KI3.

We studied the effect of ethanolic leaf extract of Azadirachta indica (AIE) on the microanatomy of the kidney of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Thirty male Wistar rats (161–190 g) were randomly assigned to one of five treatment groups of six animals each: control, diabetic, diabetic + AIE, diabetic + metformin, AIE only. Diabetes was induced with a single intraperitoneal dose of streptozotocin (70 mg/kg body weight). AIE and metformin were administered orally for 50 days (50 d) at 500 mg/kg bw/d and 350 mg/kg bw/d, respectively. Blood glucose was estimated by glucose oxidase method; plasma urea and creatinine were assayed; and paraffin sections of the kidney were stained by periodic acid-Schiff technique. Untreated diabetic rats exhibited marked hyperglycemia. Renal histopathology of these animals showed features of diabetic nephropathy, with nodular glomerulosclerosis and vacuolation of proximal tubule cells (Armanni-Ebstein phenomenon). These feature were absent in the diabetic rats treated with AIE. Besides, plasma urea and creatinine were not significantly different from the control in this group (p > 0.05), in contrast to the untreated diabetic rats, where significant increases in these markers (p < 0.05). These findings showed that the leaf extract of Azadirachta indica ameliorates hyperglycemia and diabetic nephropathy in rats.

Obesity is an important and preventable risk factor for renal disease. The administration of an antioxidant with a lipid-lowering effect is an important therapeutic approach for kidney disease in obese patients. The present study was conducted to examine whether methanolic extract of Dendrobium moniliforme (DM), one of the most famous traditional medicines used in many parts of the world, has an antioxidant effect in vitro and an ameliorative effect on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced alterations such as renal dysfunction and lipid accumulation in vivo. The 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity of DM extract (IC₅₀ = 29.6 μg/mL) was increased in a dose-dependent manner. The LLC-PK1 kidney cell damage induced by oxidative stress was significantly inhibited by the treatments with DM extract. In the animal study, DM extract (200 mg/kg) was orally administered every day for nine weeks to HFD-fed mice, and its effect was compared with that of metformin. The administration of DM extract decreased the elevated serum glucose, total cholesterol concentration and renal lipid accumulation in HFD-fed mice. It also ameliorated renal dysfunction biomarkers including serum creatinine and renal collagen IV deposition. Taken together, these results provide important evidence that DM extract exhibits a pleiotropic effect on obesity induced parameters and exerted a renoprotective effect in HFD-fed mice.

Aristolochic acids (AAs) are found in herbal medicines of Aristolochiaceae plants, including Aristolochia and Asarum species. AAs are associated with a rapidly progressive interstitial nephritis, which is called aristolochic acid nephropathy (AAN). However, the in-situ localization of AAs in the target organ, the kidney, has not been investigated yet. In the present study, the accumulation of aristolochic acid I (AA-I) in mouse kidney was revealed by immunoperoxidase light microscopy as well as colloidal gold immunoelectron microscopy (IEM) based on an anti-AA-I and AA-II monoclonal antibody (mAb). Male BALB/c mice were treated with 1.25 or 2.50 mg kg^-1 of AA-I per day for 5 days. Paraffin sections and ultra-thin sections of kidney tissue were respectively prepared. Under light microscopy, the apical surface of proximal tubules was strongly stained for AA-I, whereas no obvious immunostaining was found in the distal tubules and glomerulus, which remained relatively intact. Under electron microscopy, epithelial cells of the proximal tubules, distal tubules and collecting tubules were broken to various degrees. Gold labeling in the proximal and distal tubules was stronger than that in the collecting tubules. In renal tubules, immunogold signals of AA-I tended to accumulate in the mitochondria and peroxisomes, though the signals could be observed all over the cell. Gold signals were also found in the erythrocytes of glomeruli. The MAb against AA-I and AA-II provides a clue for the identification of proteins or factors which might interact with AA-I and thus induce targeted damage of kidney.

Hyperuricemia is a metabolic disease of the kidney that results in decreased uric acid excretion. Here, we aimed to investigate the effects of ginsenosides and anserine on hyperuricemia and the expression of aquaporin (AQP) 1–4, which are indicators of renal excretion. Ginsenosides and anserine were administered separately or together after the establishment of hyperuricemia with adenine in BALB/c mice. Renal function indexes such as serum uric acid, creatinine, and urea nitrogen were measured in each group of mice, and the expression of AQP1–4 in renal tissues was detected. Serum uric acid and urea nitrogen were decreased in the ginsenoside and the anserine +UA groups. Meanwhile, the uric acid excretion and clearance rate were clearly increased in the co-treatment +UA group ($p<0$.05). Moreover, ginsenosides or anserine ginsenosides or anserine alone and treatment with both increased the expression of AQP1–4; however, the synergistic effects were more significantly enhanced ($p<0$.01). We provide the first reported evidence that ginsenosides and anserine have synergistic effects on uric acid excretion. The improvement in renal function in hyperuricemic mice after treatment with ginsenosides and anserine may result from up-regulation of AQP1–4 expressions.

Traditional herbal formula Gushukang (GSK) was clinically applied to treat primary osteoporosis and showed osteoprotective effect in ovariectomized rodent animals and regulatory action on calcium transporters. This study aimed to determine if GSK could ameliorate aged osteoporosis by modulating serum level of calciotropic hormones and improving calcium balance. 18-month-old male mice were orally administered with either GSK (0.38g/kg body weight) or calcitriol (1$\mu$g/kg body weight) combined with high calcium diet (HCD, 1.2% Ca) for 60 days. The aged mice fed with normal calcium diet (NCD, 0.6% Ca) were a negative control. Trabecular bone and cortical bone properties as well as calcium balance were determined. Treatment with GSK significantly increased 25(OH)D and 1,25-(OH)₂D levels in serum, moreover, it markedly attenuated trabecular bone micro-architectural deteriorations and elevated trabecular bone mass as well as strengthened cortical bone mechanical properties shown by the increase in maximal bending load and elastic modulus. Calcium balance, including urinary Ca excretion, fecal Ca level and net calcium retention, was remarkably improved by GSK, which up-regulated TRPV6 expression in duodenum and TRPV5 expression in kidney and down-regulated claudin-14 expression in duodenum and kidney. Additionally, 1-OHase and 24-OHase expression was significantly decreased (vs. NCD group) and increased (vs. HCD group), respectively, in kidney of GSK- and calcitriol-treated mice. Taken together, this study demonstrated the ameliorative effects of Gushukang on aged osteoporosis by effectively stimulating vitamin D production and improving calcium balance of aged mice with high dietary calcium supplement.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is one of the causes of mortality in almost all countries across the globe and the notable thing is its asymptomatic nature in the early stages. This disease is characterized by the gradual loss of kidney function in an individual. Frequently chronic kidney disease is diagnosed based on the Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR) determined from blood and urine tests. In order to reduce the risk factors arising due to chronic kidney disease, it is essential to be diagnosed in the earlier stages itself. This work proposes an automated chronic kidney disease detection based on the textural features of the kidney using a hybrid random forest classifier from 2D ultrasound kidney images. The proposed classifier is compared with the other competing machine learning classifiers through experimenting on a dataset of 150 images and gives a better accuracy of $96.67\%$ with $100\%$ of recall and precision, thus proving it to be promising in detecting CKD noninvasively in the early stages.

Ultrasound (US) imaging is the initial phase in the preliminary diagnosis for the treatment of kidney diseases, particularly to estimate kidney size, shape and position, to give information about kidney function, and to help in diagnosis of abnormalities like cysts, stones, junctional parenchyma and tumors which is shown in Figs. 7–9. This study proposes Grey Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM)-based Probabilistic Principal Component Analysis (PPCA) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) method for the classification of kidney images. Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO) is used to update the current positions of abnormal kidney images in the discrete searching space, thus getting the optimal feature subset for better classification purposes based on Feed Forward Neural Network (FFNN). The scanned image is pre-processed and the required features are extracted by GLCM, among those, some features are selected by PPCA. Feed Forward Back propagation Neural Network (FFBN) is used to classify the normalities and abnormalities in the part of kidney images. The proposed methodology is implemented in MATLAB platform and the analyzed result produces 98% accuracy using GWO-FFBN technique.

The goal of this study is to develop a methodology for tracking the distribution of filtered solute in mathematical models of the urine concentrating mechanism. Investigation of intrarenal solute distribution, and its cycling by way of countercurrent exchange and preferential tubular interactions, may yield new insights into fundamental principles of concentrating mechanism function. Our method is implemented in a dynamic formulation of a central core model that represents renal tubules in both the cortex and the medulla. Axial solute diffusion is represented in intratubular flows and in the central core. By representing the fate of solute originally belonging to a marked bolus, we obtain the distribution of that solute as a function of time. In addition, we characterize the residence time of that solute by computing the portion of that solute remaining in the model system as a function of time. Because precise mass conservation is of particular importance in solute tracking, our numerical approach is based on the second-order Godunov method, which, by construction, is mass-conserving and accurately represents steep gradients and discontinuities in solute concentrations and tubular properties.

AUSTRALIA – Australia Halts Japanese Food Imports.

AUSTRALIA – Victorian Man Gets First Hand Transplant.

AUSTRALIA – DIY DNA Tests for Future Parents.

CHINA – China Edges Closer to Animal-Human Organ Transplant.

CHINA – Cows to Produce 'Human' Milk.

CHINA – Deadly Chinese Outbreaks Linked to New Virus.

CHINA – China Checks Food, Water for Radiation in 14 Areas.

JAPAN – Lab Grown Sperm May Help in Male Infertility.

NEW ZEALAND – Stem Cell Hope for Kidney Patients.

TAIWAN – Scientists Report 'Cell Rejuvenation' Breakthrough.

OTHER REGIONS — Pills for a Brave New World?

OTHER REGIONS — Human Hearts Created in Lab.

OTHER REGIONS — Womb Transplants Possible Next Year.

OTHER REGIONS — Scientists Create Retina Using Embryonic Stem Cells.

AUSTRALIA – Genetics Breakthrough Could Lead To New Arthritis Treatments.

AUSTRALIA – Nasal Spray Trialled for Diabetes Prevention.

AUSTRALIA – Kidney Cells Could Help Do Away with Transplants.

AUSTRALIA – Molasses Extract Helps Reduce Obesity.

HONG KONG – Chinese Medicine Could Treat Parkinson.

SINGAPORE – BN's New Genetic Engineering Technique Aims to Benefit Cancer Patients.

SINGAPORE – Singapore Doctors Design New Robotic Fingers for Surgery without Scars.

SINGAPORE – Prototype Tools for Mass Producing Nanostructures to Launch in Singapore.

OTHER REGIONS — Cancer Cells and Stem Cells Share Same Origin.

OTHER REGIONS — New Lung Cancer Gene Found.

OTHER REGIONS — Brain Waves Can Foretell Future Actions.

AUSTRALIA – Mosquito Virus Hits Australia.

AUSTRALIA – Dairy Intake Could Aid Healthcare Budget.

AUSTRALIA – New Stem Cells could Fix Broken Hearts.

CHINA – Toxin Found in Chinese Milk.

CHINA – New Way to Detect Liver Cancer Earlier.

SINGAPORE – TTSH First to Perform Robotic Gastrectomy in SE Asia.

SINGAPORE – Doctor Uses Glove Instead of Port in Colon Surgery.

SINGAPORE – Singapore & China Scientists Perform Asian Genome-wide study on Kidney Disease.

TAIWAN – Biologists Generate Man-made Pluripotent Stem Cells to Aid Study of Pompe Disease.

SOUTH KOREA – Korea's Medical Policy Improvement Project for Foreign Patients.

OTHER REGIONS – Single Gene Links Rare Cancers.

OTHER REGIONS – Israeli Scientists Develop Cancer 'Cluster Bomb'.

AUSTRALIA – Successful FDA end-of-Phase-2 for Hatchtech head lice product DeOVO^™

AUSTRALIA – Senz Oncology secures seed funding for promising cancer drug.

AUSTRALIA – Geneworks develops DNA barcodes for international security.

INDIA – Stress hormones: Good or Bad for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder risk?

SINGAPORE – New study shows fertility knowledge gaps may exacerbate Singapore's declining birth rate challenge.

SINGAPORE – World's first wearable robotic device for stroke rehabilitation comes to Singapore.

SRI LANKA – Conflicting reports highlight scientific data gaps in Sri Lanka's chronic kidney disease.

EUROPE – InDex Pharmaceuticals strengthens IP position for Kappaproct.

EUROPE – Novozymes and Terranol to market advanced biofuel yeast.

EUROPE – The world's first (official) biosimilar antibody goes to… Rheumatoid Arthritis.

USA – MRI reveals brain's response to reading.

USA – Novozymes partner Chemtex receives USDA commitment to build advanced biofuels plant in United States.

USA – Fossil fuel and renewable energy subsidies on the rise.

INDIA – Lack of access to technology ‘hampers detection of substandard drugs’.

JAPAN – Daiichi Sankyo announces development of nucleic acid treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy utilizing proprietary technology.

SINGAPORE – IBN creates unlimited source of human kidney cells.

SINGAPORE – Dyesol and Singapore's NTU sign agreement.

THE PHILIPPINES – Global biotech/GM crop plantings increase 100-fold from 1996.

AUSTRALIA – Phosphagenics further expands pain portfolio.

AUSTRALIA – Primary Health Care signs Australia distribution agreement for iGeneScreen™ prenatal test.

AUSTRALIA – Folic acid in pregnancy linked with reduced autism risk.

AUSTRALIA – Phylogica and Bio-Link collaborate to commercialize anti-inflammatory Phylomers.

AUSTRALIA – ABRAXANE^® plus gemcitabine improves survival in Phase III study of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.

CANADA – Verisante Technology, Inc. announces first sales of aura, a revolutionary medical device for the detection of skin cancer.

EUROPE – Project eyes robust medical technology for poor countries.

UNITED KINGDOM – Asthma sufferers have more lung fungi.

UNITED KINGDOM – Pioneering drug discovery gets major funding to move to next stage.

UNITED STATES – Gilead's sofosbuvir for hepatitis C meets primary endpoint in fourth pivotal Phase III study.

UNITED STATES – Eleven Biotherapeutics publishes data on EBI-005, a novel IL-1 inhibitor protein for topical treatment of dry eye disease.

UNITED STATES – Phase I/II trial of ADXS-HPV in anal cancer conducted by Brown University Oncology Group.

UNITED STATES – Scopolamine: An old drug with new psychiatric applications.

UNITED STATES – New bioengineered ears look and act like the real thing.

UNITED STATES – To trap a rainbow, slow down light.

UNITED STATES – AB SCIEX responds to milk contamination concerns with new method to detect dicyandiamide.

Treating An Aging Population – Innovative Dutch Solutions: Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency.

AUSTRALIA – Chronic pain research delves into the brain

KOREA – STC life, Ltd. successfully treats stroke patients at Stem Cell Research Treatment Center

MALAYSIA – Indigenous people ‘at graver risk’ of neglected diseases

SINGAPORE – A*STAR scientists create stem cells from a drop of blood

THE PHILIPPINES – ‘Too many exotic species’ in Philippine greening plan

AFRICA – The parasite that escaped out of Africa

CANADA – Genome British Columbia researchers closing in on chlamydia vaccine

EUROPE – Teesside University pioneering life-saving research

EUROPE – Inactivated polio vaccines broadly available for the world's children in the drive toward polio eradication

EUROPE – Vitamin D deficiency may compromise immune function

EUROPE – Inflammation mobilizes tumor cells

NEPAL – Animal-borne parasites plague Nepal

UNITED STATES – Zebrafish discovery may shed light on human kidney function

UNITED STATES – Nanoparticles and magnetic fields train immune cells to fight cancer in mice

UNITED STATES – Building heart tissue that beats

UNITED STATES – Immunology researchers uncover pathways that direct immune system to turn ‘on’ or ‘off’

UNITED STATES – How diabetes drugs may work against cancer

UNITED STATES – Study reveals how a protein common in cancers jumps anti-tumor mechanisms

UNITED STATES – Smoking While Pregnant May Compromise Children’s Kidney Function.

UNITED STATES – You Are What You Exhale.

UNITED STATES – A Diet of Fruits, Vegetables May Help Kidney Disease Patients.

TAIWAN – TLC to Proceed with TLC599 Phase 2 Trial in Taiwan.

TAIWAN – TLC Reports Results of Phase 1/2 Clinical Trial of TLC599 for Sustained Pain Relief in the Treatment of Osteoarthritis of the Knee.

JAPAN – Chugai to Join Global Initiative for Addressing Rise of Non-Communicable Diseases in Low and Lower-Middle Income Countries.

AUSTRALIA & MALAYSIA – Holista CollTech Collaborates with Nobel Prize Nominee to File Patent for World’s First Low-GI Sugar with All-Natural Ingredients.

For the month of June 2020, in our Features section, we have an article contribution by Dr Jonathan Teh a Consultant Radiation Oncologist at Asian Alliance Radiation & Oncology (AARO) on how SBRT can provide hope for inoperable kidney cancer. Also in the Features section, we commemorate World Health Day with Viatris.

In the Columns section, look at how the microbiome can be a gateway to wellness in an article contribution by Daniel Ramón Vidal, Vice President of R&D Health & Wellness at ADM. Also, explore how artificial intelligence and advanced analytics can help in enhancing clinical trial process.

In the Spotlights section, we interviewed Jeong Jae Youn, Country Manager for GE Healthcare Singapore & Emerging ASEAN to dive into mammograms and ultrasound methods used for early detection of signs of breast cancer.

Momordica charantia (MC) is a plant belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae. MC has antidiabetic, antibacterial, antioxidant, antimutagenic, antiulcerative, antiinflammatory and antilipidemic effects. However, information on the effect of MC on fracture union is lacking. This study aimed to examine the effect of MC on fracture union histopathologically and biomechanically. A total of 42 male Wistar-Albino rats were randomly divided into 3 groups, 14 in each group. A diaphyseal fracture was created on the right tibia of all rats. All fractures were fixed with a Kirschner (K) wire. The rats in Group I did not undergo any further procedures (Control group). Group II rats were treated with 0.9% saline oral gavage at a dose of $500\mu$L/day for 28 days [Saline (S) group]. The rats in Group III were given 300mg/kg MC extract per day, dissolved in $500\mu$L 0.9% saline by oral gavage for 28 days [MC (Extract) group]. After 28 days, all rats were sacrificed. Each group was randomly divided into two subgroups. The histopathological examination was performed on the right tibia of rats in the first subgroup and the biomechanical examination in the second subgroup. The kidneys and livers of all rats were evaluated histopathologically. Fracture union was significantly better in the Extract group compared with the Control and S groups histopathologically. The fracture inflammation values were lower in the Extract group than in the other groups. No statistically significant difference was found between the groups in terms of possible side effects to kidneys and livers. In terms of biomechanics, fracture union was significantly better in the Extract group compared with the Control and S groups except yield displacement values. MC had a positive effect on fracture union histopathologically and biomechanically.