In addition, patients with an ETR of 0.87 to 0.98 more quickly developed a decreased estimated glomerular filtration rate after two years of follow-up. In the present study a nomogram for the early prediction of renal outcomes in patients with iMN was developed. This nonogram suggested that patients with an ETR of 0.87-0.98 should receive greater attention during follow-up.Cisplatin (DDP) is a commonly used chemotherapy drug; however, the side effects associated with its use, particularly acute kidney injury (AKI), limit its clinical application. Puerarin is a natural flavonoid extracted from the Chinese medical herb Radix puerariae, which has been reported to alleviate DDP-induced nephrotoxicity. However, the mechanisms underlying puerarin regulation on microRNA (miR)-31-mediated signaling pathways in AKI remain unknown. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the function of puerarin in a DDP-induced AKI rat model via reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and western blot analyses. The results demonstrated that DDP upregulated the levels of miR-31 in a concentration-dependent manner, both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, DDP significantly increased blood urea nitrogen and malondialdehyde content, serum creatinine and histopathological changes, while significantly decreasing the expression levels of superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione S-transferase in kidney tissues. TUNEL and western blot analyses indicated that DDP increased the expression levels of apoptotic proteins and affected the Numb/Notch1 signaling pathway, which is downstream of miR-31. The effects induced by DDP were counteracted following treatment with puerarin. Taken together, the results of the present study suggest that puerarin exhibits a renal protective effect against DDP-induced AKI by upregulating miR-31 expression and inhibiting the Numb/Notch1 signaling pathway.Allergic rhinitis (AR) is the allergic inflammation of immune cells in the nasal mucosa, caused by an abnormal T-cell response. Interleukin (IL)-37, a unique member of the IL-1 family with broad anti-inflammatory roles in various autoimmune diseases, participates in the immune regulation of AR. However, the regulatory mechanism of IL-37 in AR has remained elusive. In the present study, a mouse model of AR was established by treating mice with ovalbumin (OVA). Following systemic administration of IL-37, the effects of the cytokine on allergic symptoms were evaluated. The nasal mucosal infiltration of eosinophils was assessed by histopathological observation. The serum and nasal lavage fluid concentrations of immunoglobulin (Ig)E, IgG1, IgG2a, interferon (IFN)-γ, IL-4, IL-13, IL-17a and C-C motif cytokine ligand (CCL)11 were determined by ELISA. Treatment with OVA resulted in allergic symptoms, including enhanced eosinophil infiltration in the nasal mucosa, increased thickness of the nasal mucosa and increased levels of IgE, IgG1, IgG2a, IL-4, IL-13, IL-17a and CCL11, but the level of IFN-γ was indicated to decrease. After IL-37 treatment, the frequency of nasal rubbing and sneezing was reduced compared with that in the OVA group. IL-37 administration also decreased the number of eosinophils in the nasal mucosa and the thickness of the nasal mucosa, as well as the serum and nasal lavage fluid levels of IgE, IgG1, IgG2a, IL-4, IL-13, IL-17a and CCL11, but the level of IFN-γ decreased. In addition, the OVA-induced increases in histamine and substance P levels were reversed by IL-37 administration. CCL11 expression levels were correlated with the expression levels of IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-13, IL-17a, histamine and substance P. In conclusion, IL-37 alleviated the OVA-induced allergic symptoms and allergic inflammatory response by reducing the serum cytokine levels via decreasing CCL11 expression levels in mice.16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) PCR has been reported to be an effective diagnostic means in patients with prosthetic joint infection (PJI). The aim of the present meta-analysis is to establish the overall diagnostic accuracy of the measurement of 16S rRNA PCR for diagnosing PJI. PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, EMBASE and Wiley Online Library were searched for studies on 16S rRNA PCR in the diagnosis of PJI. The search incorporated all literature published up until December 2018 and the QUADAS-2 checklist were used for quality assessment. The sensitivity, specificity and other measures of accuracy of 16S rRNA PCR in the diagnosis of PJI were pooled. Statistical analysis was performed by employing Meta-Disc 1.4 and Stata 12.0 software. A total of 15 studies met the inclusion criteria. The summary estimates for 16S rRNA PCR in the diagnosis of PJI in these studies were pooled Sensitivity, 0.70 (95% CI, 0.67-0.73); specificity, 0.93 (95% CI, 0.91-0.94); positive likelihood ratio, 10.93 (95% CI, 5.55-21.51); negative likelihood ratio, 0.33 (95% CI, 0.28-0.40); diagnostic odds ratio, 41.77 (95% CI, 19.90-87.68); and the area under the curve, 0.89. Subgroup analysis showed that the use of sonicate fluid and periprosthetic tissue has higher sensitivity (0.76; 95% CI, 0.69-0.82; and 0.73; 95% CI, 0.68-0.78, respectively), specificity (0.93, 95% CI, 0.90-0.96; and 0.95; 95% CI, 0.90-0.98, respectively) and area under the curve (0.93 and 0.98, respectively). 16S rRNA PCR assay plays an important role in the diagnosis of PJI. The results of 16S rRNA PCR assays should be interpreted in parallel with clinical findings, the results of microbiological, and other laboratory tests.The etiology and pathophysiological mechanisms of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are yet to be fully elucidated; however, mining of disease-related microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) has improved the understanding of the progression of IPF. The aim of the current study was to screen miRNAs associated with IPF using three mathematical algorithms One-way ANOVA, least absolute shrinkage and selector operation (LASSO) and support vector machine-recursive feature elimination (SVM-RFE). Using ANOVA, three miRNAs and two miRNAs were selected with opposite expression patterns in moderate and severe IPF, respectively. In total, two algorithms, LASSO and SVM-RFE, were used to perform feature selection of miRNAs. miRNAs from patients were also extracted from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues and detected using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). The intersection of the three algorithms (ANOVA, LASSO and SVM-RFE) was taken as the final result of the miRNA candidates. Three miRNA candidates, including miR-124, hsa-miR-524-5p and hsa-miR-194 were therefore used as biomarkers. The receiver operating characteristic model demonstrated favorable discrimination between IPF and control groups, with an area under the curve of 78.5%. Moreover, RT-qPCR results indicated that miR-124, hsa-miR-524-5p, hsa-miR-194 and hsa-miR-133a were differentially expressed between patients with IPF and age-matched men without fibrotic lung disease. The target genes of these miRNAs were further predicted and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis was performed. Collectively, the present results suggested that the identified miRNAs associated with IPF may be useful biomarkers for the diagnosis of this disease.The present study aimed to determine whether there is any difference in the efficacy and safety of once-daily vs. twice-daily enoxaparin when used for the initial treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE). The PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Science Direct and Google Scholar databases were searched for studies comparing once-daily and twice-daily enoxaparin for the initial treatment of VTE added from inception up to 1st October 2019. Studies utilizing any other low-molecular-weight heparin and using enoxaparin for VTE prophylaxis were excluded. A total of 6 studies were included in the systematic review and 5 in the meta-analysis. Only one study was a randomized controlled trial (RCT). Pooled analysis of 460 patients receiving once-daily enoxaparin and 464 patients receiving twice-daily enoxaparin indicated no significant difference between the two dosing regimens regarding VTE recurrence [odds ratio (OR)=1.48, 95%CI 0.75-2.89, P=0.26; I2=0%]. No significant difference in major hemorrhagic complications was noted (OR=1.21, 95%CI 0.52-2.81, P=0.66; I2=0%). Sub-group analysis based on study type and use of enoxaparin for bridging therapy did not change the overall results. In cancer patients, no statistically significant difference in the recurrence of VTE was obtained between once-daily and twice-daily enoxaparin, but the confidence intervals were wide with a tendency to favor twice-daily dosing (OR=2.28, 95%CI 0.91-5.75, P=0.08; I2=0%). The overall quality of the studies was determined to be average. To conclude, while the present results suggested no significant difference in efficacy and safety of once-daily vs. twice-daily enoxaparin when used for the initial treatment of VTE, the quality of the evidence may not have been sufficiently high to support the conclusions with confidence. Further high-quality and adequately powered RCTs are required to corroborate the present results.Degeneration and destruction of articular cartilage are the key characteristics of osteoarthritis (OA). In recent studies, the use of astilbin (AST), the primary active ingredient of Astilbe chinensis, has been shown to correlate with a reduction in inflammatory disease symptoms. The present study aimed to investigate the effects and mechanisms of AST on OA. A rat model of OA was constructed and in vivo experiments were performed using the AST, PBS, OA and control groups. The cartilage tissues of each group were assessed by hematoxylin and eosin and toluidine blue staining. The gene expression levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, IL-6, AKT, PI3K and other related proteins were analyzed by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and western blot analysis. AST was found to significantly inhibit IL-1β and TNF-α protein expression; this further confirmed that IL-1β, TNF-α and PI3K mRNA expression was downregulated, indicating that the protective mechanism of AST is associated with the PI3K/AKT pathway. Overall, the results of the present study demonstrate that AST can improve OA symptoms by downregulating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, and may therefore be a potential therapeutic option for patients with OA.The present study aimed to investigate the ocular characteristics and treatment of Waardenburg syndrome (WS). A total of five patients with Waardenburg syndrome from our hospital, aged between 1 and 8 years, were included in the present study. The clinical data of these patients were analyzed, and the ocular manifestations and treatments were described. The general manifestations included hearing loss (1/5), broad high nasal root (2/5) and hypoplasia of alae nasi (2/5). Ophthalmological evaluations revealed ptosis (1/5), strabismus 1 (1/5), synophrys (2/5), telecanthus (5/5), iris hypopigmentation (5/5), high intraocular pressure (1/5) and choroidal hypopigmentation (1/5). For patients with characteristic external eye abnormalities, including ptosis, ocular plastic surgery was performed. For patients with only symptoms of iris heterochromia, no special treatment was required. The findings from the present study suggest that patients with WS may have several characteristic ocular manifestations. Abnormalities in the eyelid can be corrected by ocular plastic surgery, which is beneficial to children’s physical and mental development.