Research progress on markers of urine tubular damage in idiopathic membranous nephropathy

Idiopathic membranous nephropathy is a common primary glomerular disease.Recently,it has been found that the progression and prognosis of glomerular diseases are not only related to the glomeruli itself,but also to the severity of renal tubular injury.Although blood creatinine and urinary protein are recognized biomarkers,they appear late,are insensitive,lack specificity,and are difficult to respond to IMN conditions in a timely and accurate manner.Markers such as N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase,kidney injury molecule 1,neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipoprotein in urine can dynamically reflect the progress of kidney injury in the early stage,and are detected as noninvasive,so It has been applied in IMN,but such research is lacking,and the scope needs to be further expanded and discussed in depth.

Acupuncture and related therapies used as add-on to conventional treatments for heart failure:A systematic review of pairwise and network meta-analyses

Objective: This study aimed to assess and compare the clinical efficacy and safety of acupuncture and related therapies(ARTs) add-on to conventional treatment(CT) for heart failure(HF) through pairwise and network meta-analyses.Methods: Six electronic databases, including PubMed, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials(CENTRAL), EMBASE, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database(CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI) and Wanfang Database were searched from inceptions to December 2017. Randomized controlled trials(RCTs) regarding ARTs combining with CT for HF were eligible. The primary outcomes were changes in heart function classification(HFC) according to New York Heart Association class and left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF). Risk of bias assessment was conducted by two independent authors.Pairwise and network meta-analyses were performed using STATA 13.0 and WinBUGS 1.4.3 software.Results: A total of 26 RCTs were enrolled for analyses, with 5 kinds of ARTs and 2116 patients in all. Pairwise meta-analyses showed that acupoint application(OR: 3.28, 95%CI[2.26, 4.76]), acupuncture(OR: 2.78, 95%CI[1.21, 6.41]), acupoint injection(OR: 3.33, 95%CI[1.85, 6.00]) and moxibustion(OR: 2.51,95%CI[1.02, 6.21]) could significantly improve HFC when they were used as add-on to CT. Acupoint application(MD: 3.57, 95%CI[ 1.45, 5.70]),acupuncture(MD: 7.75, 95%CI[2.33. 13.17]). acupoint injection(MD:4.81, 95%CI[2.99, 6.63]) and moxibustion(MD: 6.99, 95%CI[3.62, 10.36]) were significantly beneficial in improving LVEF. Network meta-analyses showed that acupoint injection(SUCRA = 70.0%) and acupuncture(SUCRA = 90.4%) respectively had the greatest probability in improving HFC and LVEF.Conclusion: Most of the included ARTs add-on to CT was effective in improving HFC and LVEF. Acupoint injection and acupuncture may respectively have better effect than others for HFC and LVEF. However,due to the small sample size and poor quality of the included studies, hence well-designed RCTs are needed to confirm our findings.This study was registered in PROSPERO, CRD42018087700.

The role and advantage of traditional Chinese medicine in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19

The global coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic has had a massive impact on global social and economic development and human health.By combining traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)with modern medicine,the Chinese government has protected public health by supporting all phases of COVID-19 prevention and treatment,including community prevention,clinical treatment,control of disease progression,and promotion of recovery.Modern medicine focuses on viruses,while TCM focuses on differential diagnosis of patterns associated with viral infection of the body and recommends the use of TCM decoctions for differential treatment.This differential diagnosis and treatment approach,with its profoundly empirical nature and holistic view,endows TCM with an accessibility advantage and high application value for dealing with COVID-19.Here,we summarize the advantage of and evidence for TCM use in COVID-19 prevention and treatment to draw attention to the scientific value and accessibility advantage of TCM and to promote the use of TCM in response to public health emergencies.