Pregnancy-related anxiety and subthreshold autism trait in preschool children based a birth cohort study / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the associations between pregnancy-related anxiety and the prevalence of subthreshold autism trait (SAT) in preschool children.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Baseline data came from the Ma'anshan Birth Cohort Study, a part of the China-Anhui Birth Cohort Study (C-ABCS). All the participants were enrolled among pregnant women who received prenatal health care in 4 municipal medical centers during Oct. 2008 to Oct. 2010. A total of 5 084 pregnant women were recruited at the beginning and 4 669 singleton live births were included until childbirth. The situation about pregnancy-specific anxiety during trimester and third trimester of women were evaluated by Pregnancy-specific Anxiety Questionnaire (PAQ). Between April 2014 and April 2015, the cohort was followed up again, and the Clancy Autism Behavior Scale (CABRS) filled out by parents was used for telling the SAT children from the healthy children among 3 663 preschool children. Univariate and binary regression model was used to estimate associations between the pregnancy-related anxiety during trimester and third trimester and the subthreshold autism trait in children.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>During the pregnancy, the detected rates of women with pregnancy-specific anxiety in trimester and the third trimester were 25.5%(935/3 663), 13.9%(501/3 592) respectively, and the detected rate of maternal pregnancy-specific anxiety in both periods was 7.7%(278/3 592). There were 290 positive children with SAT and the detection rate was 7.9%. After controlling possible confounding factors including children's genders, place of residence, supplement folic acid during pregnancy, preterm birth, exposure to second-hand smoke during pregnancy, the father (mother) cultural levels, the father (mother) nature of work and family income, the results of multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that maternal pregnancy-specific anxiety in trimester was the risk factor for SAT in preschool children (OR=1.51, 95% CI: 1.11-2.04), and there was no association between maternal pregnancy-specific anxiety in the third trimester and SAT in preschool children (OR=1.36, 95% CI: 0.82-2.22). Compared with the single function of maternal pregnancy-specific anxiety in trimester or the third trimester for SAT in preschool children, maternal pregnancy-specific anxiety in both periods presented a joint action that increasing the risk for SAT (OR=2.02, 95% CI: 1.36-2.98).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Maternal pregnancy-related anxiety was a risk factor for subthreshold autism trait in preschooler children. Pregnant women should try to keep a good mental state to create a good environment for fetal growth.</p>

Study on Correlation between BMI,WC and Sperm Quality Parameters of Male Infertility / 现代检验医学杂志

Objective To investigate the correlation between body mass index (BMI),waist circumference (WC)and sperm quality parameters of male infertility.Methods 303 cases of male infertility patients including outpatients and inpatients were selected to measure height,weight and WC,and to group according to BMI standards,and sperm quality parameters of each group were detected simultaneously.Results Overweight,obese and severely obese group sperm concentration had very significant difference compared with normal weight group (t = 3.941,3.782,5.632,P 0.05),sperm con-centration and total sperm count decreased with increasing BMI.Low weight group,overweight,obese and severely obese group were higher than normal sperm immobile body recombination,there were significant differences (t = 2.847,8.592, 8.472,5.380,P 0.05).Conclusion Studies showed that the ab-normality of BMI and obesity could cause the changes in sperm parameters which might be an important mechanism of male infertility.

The effect of chronic stress on learning and memory impairment in old mice and its related mechanisms / 安徽医科大学学报

Objective To determine whether chronic stress could potentiate learning and memory impairment in old mice, and, if so, what the underlying mechanism is. Methods Sixty male mice were divided randomly into control group and chronic stress group. Mice in stress group were stressed everyday by one of the stressors including cold exposure, restraint, level shake and so on. The ability of learning and memory was determined by Morris water maze test, and the histopathologic changes in CA3 field of the hippocampus were examined under a light micro-scope. Serum corticosterone level was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Western blot was per-formed to determine the expression of β-site amyloid precursor protein-cleaving enzyme 1 and Aβ1-42 in hippocam-pus of the brain. Results Compared with the control group, the results showed that chronic stress could increase the escape latency and swimming distance of old mice during training session in the Morris water maze test. The neuropathological changes were characterized by the decreased neuron number,soma shrinkage and condensation,or nuclear pyknosis in the CA3 field of hippocampus in the stress group. On the other hand, the expression of Aβ1-42 and BACE1 protein in hippocampus were increased, as well as the serum corticosterone concentration in the stress group. Conclusion Chronic stress can potentiate learning and memory impairment and pathological damage in CA3 field of the hippocampus in old mice, which may be related to chronic stress up-regulated the levels of BACE1 and Aβ1-42 mediated by corticosterone.

Studies on the Therapeutic Effects of Total Flavonids of Astragalus on Adjuvant Arthritic Rats and Its Mechanism / 中成药

Objective: To study the effect of total flavonoids of astragalus (TFA) on adjuvant arthritic (AA) rats and its mechanism. Methods: The volume of non-injected hind paw of AA rats, serum malondialdehyde (MDA) content, interleukin-1(IL-1) and nitrite (NO - 2) produced from articular synoviocytes were measured. Results: It was obseved that serum levels of MDA and the levels of IL-1 and NO - 2 from synoviocytes increased in AA rats, and the degree of the secondary inflammatory reaction of AA rats appeared to be directly correlated with serum levels of MDA and IL-1. Treatment of whole (d0～27) or partial (d12-18 or d18-24) course of AA rats with TFA (20 mg/kg/d,ig) could not only markedly inhibit the inflammatory reaction in AA rats, but also reduce their enhanced serum lipid peroxides (LPO), IL-1 and NO production from synoviocytes. Conclusion: TFA has significant therapeutic effects on AA rats, which might be related to both of anti-oxidative effect and the reduced production of IL-1 and NO from synoviocytes.

Protective effect of extract of astragalus against injury induced by amyloid peptide in hippocampal neuron / 中国药理学通报

Aim To study the effect of EA on the injury induced by ?-amyloid protein(A?) in primary cultures of rat hippocampal neurons. Methods The protective effect of EA on A?_25-35 induced neurons injury was observed by LDH release rate, MTT, LSCM and TUNEL. Results A?_25-35 could induced cell death in rat primary hippocampal neurons. Four hours pretreatment with 20 mg?L-1, 40 mg?L-1 EA exerted the protective effect on rat primary hippocampal neurons from A?_25-35 induced injury. Conclusion EA had protective effects against injury induced by A?_25-35 in rat primary hippocampal neurons to some certain,which probably related with decreasing the level of calcium.