Adropin and spexin hormones regulate the systemic inflammation in adenine-induced chronic kidney failure in rat

The cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric evaluation of a learned helplessness scale for maintenance hemodialysis patients in China (LHS-MHD-C)

Learned helplessness (LH) is an important concept in nursing. This study aimed to adapt and translate the Arthritis Helplessness Index scale into a Chinese version of an LH scale for maintenance hemodialysis patients in China (LHS-MHD-C), and to validate its psychometric properties. Data collected included LHS-MHD-C, as well as the Hospital Depression Scale (HADS-D), and the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) for assessing LHS-MHD-C's criterion validity (predictive and concurrent, respectively). The expert consultation and the pilot study demonstrated semantic and conceptual equivalence and content validity (except for Item 3, the item content validity ranged from 0.82 to 1, and the scale content validity was 0.95). An exploratory factor analysis (n = 146) eliminated three items and accepted 11 items for the two factors, explaining 63.87% of the total variance. A CFA (n = 218) showed that the two-factors structure was consistent with the LH theory. The LHS-MHD-C can distinguish between maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients of different ages, education, working status, monthly income, and MHD duration. The scale had good concurrent validity with the BHS (r = .78, p < 0.01). Using the HADS-D as a criterion, the LHS-MHD-C showed a sensitivity of 86.2% and a specificity of 96.8%. A total score of 36.5 may be the best cut-off value for predicting MHD patients' depression. The scale showed good reliabilities (Cronbach's α value of .759, test-retest reliability of 0.772, and split-half reliability of 0.774). This study found that the LHS-MHD-C is a reliable and valid scale for assessing Chinese MHD patients' helplessness.

Adropin Predicts Chronic Kidney Disease in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients with Chronic Heart Failure

Adropin is a multifunctional secreted protein, which is involved in the metabolic modulation of the heart-brain-kidney axis in heart failure (HF). The aim of the study was to detect the plausible predictive value of serum levels of adropin for chronic kidney disease (CKD) grades 1-3 in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with chronic HF. We enrolled 417 T2DM individuals with chronic HF and subdivided them into two groups depending on the presence of CKD. The control group was composed of 25 healthy individuals and 30 T2DM patients without HF and CKD. All eligible patients underwent an ultrasound examination. Adropin was detected by ELISA in blood samples at the study baseline. We found that adropin levels in T2DM patients without HF and CKD were significantly lower than in healthy volunteers, but they were higher than in T2DM patients with known HF. The optimal cut-off point for adropin levels was 2.3 ng/mL (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.86; 95% CI = 0.78-0.95; sensitivity = 81.3%, specificity = 77.4%). The multivariate logistic regression adjusted for albuminuria/proteinuria showed that serum levels of adropin <2.30 ng/mL (OR = 1.55; p = 0.001) independently predicted CKD. Conclusions: Low levels of adropin in T2DM patients with chronic CH seem to be an independent predictor of CKD at stages 1-3.

Crosstalk between the liver and kidney in diabetic nephropathy

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a serious complication of diabetes, and its pathogenesis has not been fully elucidated. Recently, communication between organs has gradually become a new focus in the study of diseases pathogenesis, and abnormal interorgan communication has been proven to be involved in the occurrence and progression of many diseases. As an important metabolic organ in the human body, the liver plays an important role in maintaining homeostasis in humans. The liver secretes a series of proteins called hepatokines that affect adjacent and distal organs through paracrine or endocrine signaling pathways. In this review, we summarize some of the hepatokines identified to date and describe their roles in DN to discuss the possibility that the liver-renal axis is potentially useful as a therapeutic target for DN. We summarize the important hepatokines identified thus far and discuss their relationship with DN. We propose for the first time that the "liver-renal axis" is a potential therapeutic target in individuals with DN.

Impact of spexin on metabolic diseases and inflammation: An updated minireview

Spexin (SPX) is a 14 amino acid length peptide hormone which was discovered using bioinformatic tools. It is extensively expressed in central and peripheral tissues and secreted into circulation in response to metabolic stress. Recent studies revealed that SPX acts as a multifunctional peptide in various metabolic processes such as body weight, food intake, energy balance, glucose and lipid metabolism, lipid storage, salt-water balance, and arterial blood pressure. Endogenous SPX is sensitive to metabolic changes, and circulating levels of SPX have been shown to be reduced in chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and insulin resistance. Moreover, in fish and rodent models, systemic SPX treatment has positive effects on metabolism including reduced food intake, fat mass, lipid accumulation, and inflammation, improved insulin sensitivity, energy expenditure, and organ functions which are underlying mechanisms in diseases. Taken together, these findings suggest that SPX is a potential drug target for the development of new pharmacological strategies to cure metabolic diseases. This review focuses on metabolo-protective properties of SPX and discusses novel insights into the biology and mechanism of SPX in the pathogenesis of diabetes, obesity, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, metabolic syndrome, polycystic ovary syndrome, cardiovascular diseases, and kidney diseases, which are considerable global health problems.