Associations between urinary paraben levels and obesity of 10-year-old children / 环境与职业医学

Background Parabens, a widely used class of preservatives, are suspected to be potential obesogens as emerging endocrine disrupting chemicals with reproductive and developmental toxicity. Objective To analyze five urinary parabens (PBs) and estimate the associations of exposure to PBs with adiposity measures in 10-year-old school-age children. Methods A total of 471 school-age children aged 10 years from the Sheyang Mini Birth Cohort were enrolled in this study. A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect socio-demographic information, physical activity, and dietary intake. Weight, height, and waist circumference of children were measured, and age- and sex-adjusted body mass index (BMI-Z score) was calculated. Spot urine samples were collected during the follow-up visits. Urinary concentrations of five PBs including methyl-paraben (MeP), ethyl-paraben (EtP), propyl-paraben (PrP), butyl-paraben (BuP), and benzyl-paraben (BzP) were detected by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). Generalized linear models (GLMs) and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) models were applied to estimate associations of individual/overall urinary PBs concentrations with BMI Z-score and waist circumference. Results The positive rates of selected five urinary PBs were in the range from 78.98% to 98.94%. The urinary PBs concentrations (geometric mean) were in the range of 0.31-5.43 μg·L−1. The children's BMI Z-score and waist circumference (mean ± standard deviation) were (0.56±1.40) and (67.62±10.07) cm respectively. The GLMs results showed that the urinary BzP concentration was negatively associated with waist circumference (b=−0.08, 95%CI: −0.14, −0.02; P=0.01). In sex-stratified analysis, the urinary concentration of BzP was negatively associated with BMI-Z score (b=−0.59, 95%CI: −0.88, −0.30; P<0.001) and waist circumference (b=−0.80, 95%CI: −1.23, −0.37; P<0.001) in boys, but not in girls. The BKMR results also found significant negative correlations of urinary BzP concentrations with BMI-Z score and waist circumference, which were consistent with the GLM results. Conclusion The selected 10-year-old children are extensively exposed to PBs in the study area. Furthermore, childhood PBs exposure may have potential impacts on childhood adiposity measures with sex-specific effects.

Biological characteristics of cells expressing high level of aldehyde dehydrogenase subpopulation in tongue squamous cell carcinoma Tca8113 cell line / 华西口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To detect the expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) in tongue squamous cell carcinoma Tca8113 cell line and observe the biological characteristics of tumor cells expressing high level of ALDH (ALDH(hig)).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expression of ALDH in tongue squamous cell carcinoma Tca8113 cell line was detected by the flow cytometry. The ALDH(hig) and ALDH(low) subpopulation cells were isolated and cultured in vitro respectively. The ability of differentiation, proliferation and tumorsphere formation were detected. Suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) was employed to screen the genes overexpressed in ALDH(hig) subpopulation cells.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The ALDH(hig) cells in tongue squamous cell carcinoma Tca8113 cell line was rarely 1.3%. Compared with ALDH(low) cells and unsorted cells, ALDH(hig) cells demonstrated increased proliferation capacity. After culture in vitro, the percentage of ALDH(hig) cells decreased gradually to the level of that in unsorted tumor cells. The ALDH(hig) subpopulation cells could survive in serum free medium and generate tumorspheres. SSH analysis revealed these tumor cells also expressed stem cell related genes.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>There is a rare subpopulation cells expressing ALDH highly, which displays characteristics similar to stem cells. ALDH may be one of markers for cancer stem cells of tongue squamous cell carcinoma Tca8113 cell line.</p>

Screen and analysis of differentially expressed genes related to stem-like cells in tongue squamous cell carcinoma Tca8113 cell line / 华西口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To screen the differentially expressed genes of stem-like cells in tongue squamous cell carcinoma using suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The cells with high and low expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase(ALDHbr and ALDHlow) were isolated respectively from human tongue squamous cell carcinoma Tca8113 cell line. SSH was used to identify differentially expressed genes in those two groups. Positive cell clones with high/ low-expressed ALDH were screened randomly for the genetic sequences and function analysis by the bioinformatics technology.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Total 62 differentially expressed genes were identified, most of which got involved in regulation of cell cycle, cellular differentiation and other biology activities as gene ontology (GO) analysis indicated. Signal pathway analysis revealed 12 pathways related to 11 genes changed significantly.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Several potential novel biomarker candidates of tongue cancer stem cells were identified and they may provide important insights into the functions and characteristics of human tumor stem cell.</p>

The study on the relationship between multiple lacunar infarction and outcomes of mild Cognitive impairment / 中国神经精神疾病杂志

Objective To evaluate the impact of multiple lacunar infarction (MLI) on the outcomes of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods MCI patients were selected in outpatients and hospitalized patients using a common international standard MCI screen. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computer tomography (CT) were used to determine the presence of MLI. MCI patients were followed up for 6～24 months and their cognitive status and the impact of MLI on MCI were evaluated using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Results One hundred twenty patients were diagnosed as having MCI based on clinical evaluation and neuropsychological assessment. Among them, 43 (35.8%) patients had MLI and the rest 77 (64.1%) patients did not have. Twenty-seven MCI patients with MLI (62.8%) developed dementia, while 15 MCI patients without MLI (19.4%) developed dementia during 6～24 months follow-up. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that the incidence of dementia was significantly higher in patients with MLI than in patients without MLI did (P＜0.05). Conclusions MCI patients with MLI are more prone to dementia. These results suggest that early interventions aimed at controlling the modifiable risks are warranted for dementia prevention in MCI patients with MLI.