University of Paris-Sud

ABSTRACTBackgroundChronic pain significantly impacts health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with non-dialysis chronic kidney disease (ND-CKD), yet the management of pain in this population is challenging. We hypothesized that analgesic prescription practices vary internationally, influencing the pain experience and HRQOL of patients with stage 3–5 ND-CKD.MethodsThis descriptive, observational, multinational cohort study utilized data from the Chronic Kidney Disease Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (CKDopps), enrolling adult patients from nephrology practices in Brazil, France and the USA between 2013 and 2020. Analgesic prescriptions within 6 months before HRQOL assessment were categorized as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), opioids or other analgesics. HRQOL was measured using the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form, assessing multiple subdomains.ResultsAmong 3945 patients, analgesics were most frequently prescribed in the USA across all CKD stages, with opioids prescribed nearly twice as often compared with Brazil and France. NSAIDs are frequently prescribed in Brazil, including in advanced CKD stages, contrasting sharply with practices in France and the USA. Higher reported pain intensity consistently correlated with poorer outcomes across all HRQOL subdomains.ConclusionsThis study identifies considerable international variability in pain reporting and analgesic prescription patterns in patients with stage 3–5 ND-CKD. Randomized controlled trials evaluating the efficacy and safety of analgesics are warranted to improve key patient-reported outcomes such as pain in patients with ND-CKD.

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This study was designed to evaluate the therapeutic effects of hesperidin, an anti-inflammatory compound, on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). A PAH rat model was established using monocrotaline (MCT, 60 mg/kg). Next, the experimental animals were assigned into the following four groups (n = 6 per group): Control group, MCT group, MCT + H20 group (20 mg/kg hesperidin), and MCT + H40 group (40 mg/kg hesperidin). According to the experimental outcomes, the PAH rat model was built successfully. In PAH animals, hesperidin significantly reduced right ventricular systolic pressure, Fulton index, and mean pulmonary arterial pressure. Concurrently, it improved pulmonary artery velocity-time integral and acceleration time, as well as alleviated pulmonary artery and right ventricular remodeling. On a molecular level, hesperidin inhibited the expression of vascular endothelial-cadherin, alpha-smooth muscle actin, matrix metalloproteinase-9, and transforming growth factor beta. Also, hesperidin downregulated pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1β, IL-18, chemokine C-C motif ligand 2, and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 1 levels, and reduced the number of CD68+ cells in tissue samples. Further analysis revealed that hesperidin could inhibit the activation of p-IκB-α and p-p65 in samples induced by MCT. Collectively, these findings suggest that hesperidin may inhibit inflammation through the NF-κB pathway, thereby improving experimental PAH in rats induced by MCT.

The Se78(n,γ)Se79 cross section has a high impact on the abundances of Se78 produced during the slow neutron capture process (s process) in massive stars. A measurement of the Se78 radiative neutron capture cross section has been performed at the Neutron Time-of-Flight facility at CERN using a set of liquid scintillation detectors that have been optimized for a low sensitivity to neutrons. We present resonance capture kernels up to 70 keV and cross section from 70 to 600 keV. Maxwellian-averaged cross section (MACS) values were calculated for stellar temperatures between kT=5 and 100 keV, with uncertainties between 4.6% and 5.8%. The new MACS values result in substantial decreases of 20–30% of Se78 abundances produced in the s process in massive stars and AGB stars. Massive stars are now predicted to produce subsolar Se78/Se76 ratios, which is expected since Se76 is an s-only isotope, while solar Se78 abundances have also contributions from other nucleosynthesis processes. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Health policy-making require careful assessment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) epidemiology to develop efficient and cost-effective care strategies. The aim of the present study was to use the RENALGO-EXPERT algorithm to estimate the global prevalence of CKD in France. An expert group developed the RENALGO-EXPERT algorithm based on healthcare consumption. This algorithm has been applied to the French National Health claims database (SNDS), where no biological test findings are available to estimate a national CKD prevalence for the years 2018-2021. The CONSTANCES cohort (+219 000 adults aged 18-69 with one CKD-EPI eGFR) was used to discuss the limit of using health claims data. Between 2018 and 2021, the estimated prevalence in the SNDS increased from 8.1% to 10.5%. The RENALGO-EXPERT algorithm identified 4.5% of the volunteers in the CONSTANCES as CKD. The RENALGO-EXPERT algorithm had a positive predictive value of 6.2% and negative predictive value of 99.1% to detect an eGFR<60ml/min/1.73m². Half of 252 false positive cases (ALGO+, eGFR>90) had been diagnosed with kidney disease during hospitalization, and the other half based on healthcare consumption suggestive of a 'high-risk' profile; 95% of the 1661 false negatives (ALGO-, eGFR<60) had an eGFR between 45 and 60ml/min, half had medication and two-thirds had biological exams possibly linked to CKD. Half of them had a hospital stay during the period but none had a diagnosis of kidney disease. Our result is in accordance with other estimations of CKD prevalence in the general population. Analysis of diverging cases (FP and FN) suggests using health claims data have inherent limitations. Such an algorithm can identify patients whose care pathway is close to the usual and specific CKD pathways. It does not identify patients who have not been diagnosed or whose care is inappropriate or at early stage with stable GFR.

Using strontium (Sr) and barium (Ba) in otoliths to determine natal origins and understand patterns of fish movements is based on the fundamental assumption that otoliths record water chemistry signals without any major alterations. Although prior studies highlighted that fish physiology can modify the water signal in otoliths, studies for freshwater fish are scarce. We exposed different groups of Atlantic salmon parr Salmo salar to different scenarios of ambient-level variations in Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca ratios and then combined otolith chemical profiles with environmental data (water chemistry and temperature), Fulton's index, and otolith growth rates to assess what factors explain/influence the elemental ratios of Sr and Ba in otoliths. Generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) using water-based otolith composition, temperature, Fulton's index, and “individual” as explanatory variables allow to demonstrate that water chemistry alone cannot fully explain measured ratios in otoliths, except in scenarios involving significant changes in water chemistry. Other factors (physiological effects) should be accounted for reproducing short and minimal seasonal variations in water composition, considering that inter-individual variability contributes quite significantly in most scenarios.

ABSTRACT The naturally occurring polymers chitosan (CH) and sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) have attracted the interest of researchers in a variety of biomedical and pharmaceutical applications such as drug delivery, cosmetics, and tissue engineering. However, CMC and CH have certain limitations for use in controlled aqueous CMC/CH mixed solutions. In this study, aqueous solutions of CMC and CH with the same concentration of 0.5 g/l and pH 6 are mixed under atmospheric conditions. The effects of temperature and molar volume fraction X1 of CMC on the decreased electrical conductivity of CMC/CH mixed solutions were studied at different temperatures ranging from 15°C to 80°C. We highlighted that different regions can be distinguished in the aqueous CMC/CH complexes, depending on the composition and electrostatic interactions of the solutions, which are associated with significantly different phase behaviors.

Myrtaceae species are abundant in tropical Atlantic rainforests, but 41% of the 5500 species of this family are of extreme conservation concern. Eugenia astringens and E. uniflora are native Brazilian Myrtaceae species that occur in the same habitats and produce desiccation-sensitive (DS) seeds. We hypothesized that their seed desiccation-sensitivity degree is associated with specific metabolic signatures. To test it, we analyzed the germination and metabolic profiles of fresh and desiccated seeds. The water content (WC) at which at least half of the seeds survived desiccation was lower in E. astringens (0.17 g H2 O g-1 DW) than in E. uniflora (0.41 g H2 O g-1 DW). We identified 103 annotated metabolites from 3261 peaks in both species, which differed in their relative contents between E. astringens and E. uniflora seeds. The main differences in seed metabolic profiles include several protective molecules in the group of carbohydrates and organic acids and amino acid contents. The relative contents of monosaccharides and disaccharides, malic and quinic acids, amino acids and saturated fatty acids may have taken part in the distinct DS behaviour of E. astringens and E. uniflora seeds. Our study provides evidence of the relationship between desiccation sensitivity, seed viability and metabolic profile of tropical seeds by comparing two closely related Eugenia species with different DS degrees.