At the beginning of 2020, the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) led to a worldwide pandemic and mass panic. The number of infected people has been increasing exponentially since, and the mortality rate has also been concomitantly increasing. At present, no study has summarized the mortality risk of COVID-19 in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Therefore, the aim of the present study was to conduct a literature review and meta-analysis to understand the frequency of mortality among CKD patients infected with COVID-19. A comprehensive systematic search was conducted on the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases to find articles published until May 15, 2020. Study quality was assessed using a modified version of the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. After careful screening based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 3,867,367 patients from 12 studies were included. The mortality rate was significantly higher among CKD patients with COVID-19 infection than among CKD patients without COVID-19 infection, as indicated by a pooled OR of 5.81 (95% CI 3.78–8.94, P < 0.00001, I2 = 30%). The patients were then stratified into ≥ 70 and < 70 years, and subgroup analysis revealed that among CKD patients with COVID-19 infection, the mortality rate was higher in the < 70 years group (OR 8.69, 95% CI 7.56–9.97, P < 0.0001) than in the ≥ 70 years group (OR 2.44, 95% CI 0.75–6.63, P = 0.15). Thus, COVID-19 patients with CKD have a high mortality risk and require a comprehensive multidisciplinary management strategy.

Objectives The impact of rheumatic diseases on COVID-19 infection remains poorly investigated. Here we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the outcomes of COVID-19 in patients with rheumatic diseases. Methods We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus and preprint database up to 29th August 2020, for publications with confirmed COVID-19 infection in patients with rheumatic diseases. The primary outcomes were the rates of hospitalization, oxygen support, intensive care unit (ICU) admission and death. A meta-analysis of effect sizes using the random-effects models was performed, and meta-regression analyses were performed to explore heterogeneity. The data from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance physician registry (the COVID-19 GRA) was used as a reference. Results A total of 31 articles involving 1138 patients were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The publications were from Europe, Asia and North America, but none from other continents. The overall rates of hospitalization, oxygen support, ICU admission and fatality among COVID-19 infected patients with rheumatic diseases were 0.58 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.48–0.67), 0.33 (95% CI 0.21–0.47), 0.09 (95% CI 0.05–0.15) and 0.07 (95% CI 0.03–0.11), respectively. The rate of oxygen support in Europe (0.48, 95% CI 0.4–0.57) was higher than that in other continents. Among all hospitalized patients, the rates of oxygen support, ICU admission and fatality were 0.61 (95% CI 0.48–0.73), 0.13 (95% CI 0.07–0.21) and 0.13 (95% CI 0.09–0.18), respectively. The fatality rate was highest in Europe (0.19, 95% CI 0.15–0.24). The fatality rate was higher both in this meta-analysis and the COVID-19 GRA (7.0% and 6.7%, respectively) than that (3.4%) in WHO database, although the age, gender and comorbidity were not matched. Conclusion Patients with rheumatic diseases remain vulnerable with substantial rates of severe outcomes and a geographic variation. More studies were urgently needed to elucidate the risk factors of severe outcomes in this population.

Background. Idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN) is a major cause of adult nephrotic syndromes, and reliable noninvasive biomarkers for diagnosis and monitoring are urgently needed. In this study, we performed small RNA (sRNA) sequencing to explore sRNA profiles of urinary exosomes derived from IMN patients and healthy controls (CON) to provide clues for identifying novel noninvasive sRNA biomarkers for IMN. Methods. Urine samples were collected from five healthy controls and six patients with IMN. High-throughput sequencing was used to screen sRNA expression profiles of urinary exosomes from patients with IMN in two independent cohorts. Results. Urinary exosomes were successfully isolated and used to obtain exosomal sRNAs. We screened 131 differentially expressed miRNAs, including 28 specifically expressed miRNAs, then explored the top 10 specifically expressed miRNAs in all IMN individuals. The specifically expressed miRNAs and differentially expressed miRNAs provide potential biomarkers for IMN. Additionally, we discovered numerous sRNAs derived from genomic repetitive sequences, which could represent an exciting new area of research. Conclusion. Herein, we revealed significant differences in expression profiles of urinary exosomal miRNAs and repetitive region-derived sRNAs between patients with IMN and healthy controls. The findings could facilitate the development of potential molecular targets for membranous nephropathy.

Background: According to the "lipid nephrotoxicity hypothesis", there is now significant research being conducted in this area. By studying the role of hyperlipidemia in chronic kidney disease in the general Zhejiang population, we aimed to explore the correlation between changes in blood lipid levels and chronic kidney disease. Methods: We collected and analyzed clinical data from ordinary residents who participated in the annual comprehensive physical examination with no overt kidney disease in Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, China from January 2011 to December 2016. According to triglyceride, total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein levels, participants were respectively divided into 4 groups. Statistical methods were used to evaluate the correlation between different blood lipid profiles and chronic kidney disease. Results: Five thousand one hundred eighty-three participants were included in our study. During the six-year follow-up period, 227 participants (4.4%) developed chronic kidney disease. The odds ratio for incident chronic kidney disease was 3.14 (95%CI: 1.53-6.43) in Q3, 3.84 (95%CI: 1.90-7.76) in Q4 according to the total cholesterol group and 1.17 (95%CI: 1.04-1.32) in Q3, 1.40 (95%CI: 1.11-2.48) in Q4 according to the low-density lipoprotein group, respectively, after multivariable-adjusted analyses. According to the triglyceride grouping, the odds ratio for incident chronic kidney disease was 2.88 (95%CI: 1.29-6.43) in Q2, 2.92 (95%CI: 1.44-6.57) in Q3 and 3.08 (95%CI: 1.11-6.69) in Q4, after multivariable-adjusted analyses. Conclusion: Increased triglycerides and high levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein were independently associated with an increased likelihood of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decline and development of incident chronic kidney disease in the general Zhejiang population.

ObjectiveTo study the association between anthropometric indexes [lipid accumulation products (LAP), visceral obesity index (VAI), triglyceride and glucose index (TyG) and waist triglyceride index (WTI)] and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in a representative sample of American adult population surveyed by National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).MethodsCross-sectional data from the NHANES were used. Participants were adults aged 18–80 y from 1996–2006. MetS were defined by the updated National Cholesterol Education Program/Adult Treatment Panel III criteria (NCEP-ATP III) for Americans. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn and the areas under the curve (AUC) were used to assess the ability of these indexes in screening MetS. Statistical differences among the AUC values of these indexes were compared. The association between the anthropometric indexes and MetS was investigated using weighted multivariable-adjusted logistic regression.Results560 (35.2%) males and 529 (26.4%) females were diagnosed with MetS. LAP was the strongest predictor of MetS for men (AUC=0.87, 95% CI 0.85-0.89), and also was the strongest for women [AUC=0.85, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.83-0.86], according to the ROC curve analysis. In men, differences in AUC values between LAP and other anthropometric indicators were also significant (all P&lt;0.001). In women, there was a significant difference in AUC values between LAP and WTI (P&lt;0.001), but differences in AUC values between LAP and TyG, VAI were not significant.ConclusionThe present study indicated that LAP is a better predictor in the clinical setting for identifying individuals with MetS in the American adult population.

Objective We aimed to investigate the effect of targeted therapies on cardiovascular risk in psoriasis (PsO) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) via a meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Scopus were searched for RCTs reporting targeted therapies in patients with PsO/PsA published until 28 October 2021. The primary and secondary outcomes included the relationship between targeted therapies and all cardiovascular events (CVEs), major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs), myocardial infarction (MI), heart failure, and stroke in PsO/PsA. The outcome risk ratios (RRs) were calculated using the Mantel–Haenszel fixed‐effect method. Results A total of 81 articles involving 88 RCTs were included. There was no statistically significant difference regarding the occurrence of all CVEs for all targeted therapies (RR = 1.03, 95% CI 0.74‐1.43, P = .85) compared to placebo in PsO/PsA. No statistically significant difference existed between drugs and placebo in patients with PsA on all CVEs (RR = 0.81, 95% CI 0.48‐1.36, P = .43). Surprisingly, the incidence of all CVEs was higher in the low dosage group compared to the high dosage group of all targeted therapies (RR = 1.97, 95% CI 1.19‐3.27, P = .008) and prominently anti‐interleukin‐17 agent (RR = 2.20, 95% CI 1.05‐4.58, P = .04). Conclusion Current targeted therapies are not associated with the risk of CVEs. Based on the existing evidence, we reported here that a dosage reduction of targeted therapies was not recommended.

Objective. Scleroderma renal crisis (SRC) is a life-threatening syndrome. The early identification of patients at risk is essential for timely treatment to improve the outcome. Therefore, it is of great interest to provide a personalised tool to predict risk of SRC in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods. We tried to set up a SRC prediction model based on the PKUPH-SSc cohort of 302 SSc patients. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) regression was used to optimise disease features. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was applied to build a SRC prediction model incorporating the features of SSc selected in the Lasso regression. Then, a multi-predictor nomogram combining clinical characteristics was constructed and evaluated by discrimination and calibration, with further assessment by external validation in a validation cohort composed of 400 consecutive SSc patients from other 4 tertiary hospitals. Results. A multi-predictor nomogram for evaluating the risk of SRC was successfully developed. In the nomogram, four easily available predictors were contained, including disease duration <2 years, cardiac involvement, anaemia and corticosteroid >15mg/d exposure. The nomogram displayed good discrimination with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.843 (95% CI: 0.797-0.882) and good calibration. High AUC value of 0.854 (95% CI: 0.690-1.000) could still be achieved in the external validation. The model is now available online for research use. Conclusion. The multi-predictor nomogram for SRC could be reliably and conveniently used to predict the individual risk of SRC in SSc patients, and be a step towards more personalised medicine.

Previous studies have found that "general catharsis", such as hitting sandbags, does not reduce but increases an individual's anger feeling and aggressive behavior. Although the "goal catharsis" that is directed at attacking targets can temporarily relieve anger, there is a risk of increasing the tendency of aggressive personality if it is used for a long time. These findings raise serious doubts and challenges to the traditional view that "anger must be released" held by the classic catharsis theory that many people still trust. The present study compared the effects of "general catharsis" and "goal catharsis" on anger-related responses among Chinese people, and the Chinese written form of catharsis was used in this study. The results showed that after participants were provoked, the aggressive behavior of participants who wrote down their dissatisfaction (general catharsis condition) was significantly higher than that of participants who wrote to attack someone who irritated them (goal catharsis condition) as well as that of participants who completed a simple recall task (control condition), and there was no significant difference in the aggressive behavior level between the latter two cases. These results suggest that the catharsis effect is no better than a simple recall task similar to attention distraction, that is, aggressive catharsis is not an effective way for anger relief. K E Y W O R D S aggressive behavior, anger, catharsis, emotion regulation, Taylor aggression paradigm Jun Zhan and Yu Shuhan contributed equally to this work.