An epidemiologic study on functional constipation among adult communities in Shanghai / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective To determine the prevalence and risk factors of functional constipation (FC) by using Rome Ⅲ criteria in the local adult communities.Methods A stratified randomized and community-based study by multi-stage cluster sampling was employed.A household survey was conducted from April to May 2010.All of the participants were interviewed face-to-face by filling out the self-administered questionnaires which based on Rome Ⅲ criteria for the diagnosis of FC.Self-rating anxiety scale (SAS),self-rating depression scale (SDS) and Athens insomnia scale (AIS) were carried out to evaluate the psychological characteristics and qualities of sleep.Results A total of 7648 subjects fulfilled the questionnaires,with the response rate as 90.0％.211 patients met the Rome Ⅲ criteria,including 90 males and 121 females.The adjusted prevalence rates of FC were 2.5％ in males,3.3％ in females and with an overall rate as 2.9％.The ratio of men to women was 1∶1.32,with significant difference between males and females (P=0.043).The most common group was in the 18-29 year-olds (x2=37.359,P=0.000).FC patients were more likely to be detected in the group with normal BMI (x2=16.087,P=0.002),having received high education (x2=27.604,P=0.000),being intelectuals ( x2=6.922,P=0.031 ) and divorced ( x2=22.000,P=0.000) than in other groups. Multivariate analysis showed that excessive intake of high-fat food was significantly associated with the presence of FC (odds ratio as 1.253,P=0.000),whereas foods with high-fiber (odds ratio as 0.854,P=0.029) might serve as protective factors.Significant differences between FC groups and control groups were found in the incidence of anxiety (with odds ratio as 2.583,P=0.000) and insomnia (odds ratio as 2.443,P=0.000).Conclusion The prevalence of FC in adult communities in Shanghai Songjiang district was not higher than that in other parts of the communities.Excessive intake of high-fat food,anxiety and insomnia might be risk factors for FC and foods with high-fiber contents might serve as protective factors.

Risk factors of irritable bowel syndrome in adolescents in China / 中华儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the risk factors for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) among school adolescents in China.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>A stratified, randomized study by cluster sampling was conducted, which recruited 51,956 students from high and primary schools in Chinese cities. All students were requested to fill in a questionnaire.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>(1) Factors including class (odds ratio 1.12), excessive intake of pepper (odds ratio 1.17), fried (odds ratio 1.08) and starch-based foods (odds ratio 1.06), gastrointestinal tract infection (odds ratio 2.66), abuse of analgesic (odds ratio 1.49), inheritance (odds ratio 1.83), fatigue (odds ratio 1.32) and repression (odds ratio 1.45) were significantly associated with the presence of IBS (P < 0.05). High protein food (odds ratio 0.90) was a protective factor.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Different food intake, gastrointestinal tract infection, abuse of analgesic, inheritance and psychological factors might be related to development of IBS in the students of the cities involved in this study.</p>

Effects of silencing connective tissue growth factor on rat transforming growth factor beta/Smads signal / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effects of small interfering RNA targeting connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) on rat transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta)/Smads signal pathway.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Chemically synthetic siRNA targeting CTGF was transfected into HSC T6 and then they were injected into rat livers through their intraportal veins. At the same time these rats also received CCl4 subcutaneously every three days for 6 consecutive weeks. Untreated HSC T6 or/and rats with random siRNA treatment served as controls. Total RNA or/and protein in HSC T6 and rat hepatic tissues were extracted. The expressions of CTGF and TGF beta 1, Smad2, 3 and 7 genes were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and/or Western blot.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>CTGF siRNA significantly reduced the expression of CTGF protein in HSC T6. At 48 h after CTGF siRNA treatment, the down-regulation of CTGF protein was the most significant, up to 94%+/-4% (t=46.196, P less than 0.01), but the expressions of TGF beta 1, Smad2, 3 and 7 mRNA showed no differences in HSC T6 compared with the blank controls. Six weeks after CCl4 injections, prominent up-regulations were observed in the gene expressions of CTGF and TGF beta 1 in saline control or siRNA-treated rat livers. Administering CTGF siRNA for six weeks markedly attenuated the induction of CTGF and TGF beta 1 genes; the expressions of CTGF and TGF beta 1 protein decreased by 95%+/-2% (F=21.234, P less than 0.01) and 74%+/-8% (F=13.464, P less than 0.05), respectively, whereas Smad2, 7 protein expressions were not affected.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Silencing the CTGF gene can suppress the TGF beta /Smads signal pathway in rat livers.</p>