Association between age of life adversity and insulin resistance in girls with precocious puberty / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To investigate the association between early life adversity(ELA) and the triglycerideglucose (TyG) index for an indicator of insulin resistance among girls with precocious puberty, so as to provide scientific basis for effective prevention and intervention measures.@*Methods@#From July 2020 to September 2021, girls with precocious puberty were recruited from the childrens health clinic of Anhui Provincial Childrens Hospital. Among them, 150 girls with complete blood indicators and questionnaire information were included. Both parental reports and child selfreports were combined to assess ELA exposure. Fasting blood samples were collected to evaluate thetyg index. According to the ELA score classification, girls were classified into 3 groups for 0, 1 and >2, multiple linear regression analysis were conducted to examine the association between ELA exposure and TyG index in girls with precocious puberty.@*Results@#Precocious pubertal girls subjectively reported high rates of ELA exposure, with an average ELA score of (1.07±1.17) and an average TyG level of (7.99±0.49). A single adverse association was found that the exposure of girls with precocious puberty to a lack of warm nurturing was significantly positively correlated with the TyG index (β=0.26, 95%CI=0.03-0.50, P<0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that girls in the ELA≥2 group had a 0.24 increase in TyG levels compared to girls who did not experience ELA (β=0.24, 95%CI=0.04-0.43). After controlling for covariates such as child age, mothers age, fathers age, physical activity, screen time, birth weight, birth method (including natural and cesarean sections), perceived stress, BMI standardized Zscore, and parental assessment SDQ score, The association remained significant after controlling for covariates and was independent of BMI (β=0.25, 95%CI=0.04-0.46)(P<0.05).@*Conclusions@#Cumulative early life adversity in girls with precocious puberty is significantly positively correlated with the TyG index. It should early identify the girls exposed to high ELA for precocious puberty and timely intervent to improve their glucose metabolism function.

Novel assays for quality evaluation of XueBiJing:Quality variability of a Chinese herbal injection for sepsis management / 药物分析学报

XueBiJing is an intravenous five-herb injection used to treat sepsis in China.The study aimed to develop a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry(LC-MS/MS)-or liquid chromatography-ultraviolet(LC-UV)-based assay for quality evaluation of XueBiJing.Assay development involved identifying marker constituents to make the assay therapeutically relevant and building a reliable one-point cali-brator for monitoring the various analytes in parallel.Nine marker constituents from the five herbs were selected based on XueBiJing's chemical composition,pharmacokinetics,and pharmacodynamics.A selectivity test(for"similarity of response")was developed to identify and minimize interference by non-target constituents.Then,an intercept test was developed to fulfill"linearity through zero"for each analyte(absolute ratio of intercept to C response,＜2％).Using the newly developed assays,we analyzed samples from 33 batches of XueBiJing,manufactured over three years,and found small batch-to-batch variability in contents of the marker constituents(4.1％-14.8％),except for senkyunolide I(26.5％).

Association between dietary patterns and central precocious puberty in girls / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To explore the relationship between dietary patterns and central precocious puberty in children, and to provide a scientific basis for dietary prevention of precocious puberty.@*Methods@#A case-control study was conducted, among 35 newly diagnosed central precocious puberty girls from May to December 2019 as the case group, and 70 healthy girls with normal development as the control group. Physical development examination, parent questionnaire survey and child interview were carried out. Dietary information was assessed using a simplified food frequency questionnaire(FFQ). Principal component analysis was used to identify children s dietary patterns, and multiple Logistic regression was used to assess the association between dietary patterns and precocious puberty.@*Results@#Three different dietary patterns have been established, namely "snack and processed food type", "animal protein type" and "nutritional tonic type" dietary patterns, respectively. After adjusting for covariates such as age and BMI, Logistic regression analysis showed that the "snack and processed food type" dietary pattern was positively correlated with precocious puberty(OR=10.81, 95%CI=2.59-45.15, P<0.01). There was a negative correlation between "animal protein type" and precocious puberty(OR=0.24, 95%CI=0.06-0.91, P=0.04), while the association between "nutritive tonic" and precocious puberty was not statistically significant(OR=0.28, 95%CI=0.07-1.05, P=0.06).@*Conclusion@#Children s dietary patterns were related to precocious puberty." Snack and processed food "dietary pattern with a high intake of fried foods, puffed foods, foods containing preservatives or pigments, western fast foods, chocolate and products, was closely related to central precocious puberty.

Improved antimelanogenesis and antioxidant effects of polysaccharide from Cuscuta chinensis Lam seeds after enzymatic hydrolysis

Cuscuta chinensis polysaccharide (CPS) was extracted using hot water and enzymatically hydrolyzed C. chinensis polysaccharide (ECPS) was produced by the mannase enzymatic hydrolysis process. The purpose of this research was to investigate the antimelanogenic activity of ECPS and CPS in B16F10 melanoma cells. The in vitro antioxidant activity was assessed by their ferric iron reducing power and DPPH free radical scavenging activities. The molecular mass distribution of polysaccharides was determined using SEC-MALLS-RI. CPS was successfully enzymatically degraded using mannase and the weighted average molecular weights of CPS and ECPS were 434.6 kDa and 211.7 kDa. The results of biological activity assays suggested that the enzymatically hydrolyzed polysaccharide had superior antimelanogenic activity and antioxidant effect than the original polysaccharide. ECPS exhibited antimelanogenic activity by down-regulating the expression of tyrosinase, MITF, and TRP-1 without cytotoxic effects in B16F10 melanoma cells. In conclusion, ECPS have the potential to become a skin whitening product.

Reproductive Outcomes in Women with Prior Cesarean Section Undergoing In Vitro Fertilization: A Retrospective Case-control Study / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

The impact of prior cesarean section (CS) on the pregnancy and neonatal outcomes of in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) was investigated.A retrospective analysis was performed on 144 patients with prior CS between January 2013 and December 2015.The pregnancy,delivery,and neonatal outcomes of patients who had previous CS delivery and received IVF-ET were analyzed.The control group comprised 166 patients who had only previous vaginal delivery (VD) and received IVF-ET during the same period.The results showed that the basal follicle stimulating hormone level,estradiol level on human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) day,gonadotrophin dosage,duration of stimulation,retrieved oocytes,fertilization rate,high-quality embryo rate,multiple birth rate,abortion rate and ectopic pregnancy rate had no significant difference between the two groups (P＞0.05).The pregnancy rate (40.28％ vs.54.22％) and implantation rate (24.01％ vs.34.67％) were significantly lower (P＜0.05),and the ratio of embryo difficulty transfer (9/144 vs.0/166) was significantly higher in CS group than in VD group.The risk of pernicious placenta previa and postpartum hemorrhage in twin deliveries was significantly increased in CS group as compared with that in VD group (P＜0.05),and gestational age and neonatal birth weight were significantly reduced in twin deliveries as compared with singleton deliveries in both groups (P＜0.05).It was suggested that the existence of CS scar may impact embryo implantation and clinical pregnancy outcome,and increase the difficulty of ET.We should limit the number of transfer embryos to avoid multiple pregnancies and strengthen gestational supervision in patients with cesarean scar.

Comparison of Diagnosing and Staging Accuracy of PET (CT) and MIBG on Patients with Neuroblastoma: Systemic Review and Meta-analysis / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

To perform a systemic review and meta-analysis of the diagnostic accuracy of PET (CT) and metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) for diagnosing neuroblastoma (NB),electronic databases were searched as well as relevant references and conference proceedings.The diagnostic accuracy of MIBG and PET (CT) was calculated for NB,primary NB,and relapse/metastasis of NB based on their sensitivity,specificity,and area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve (AUSROC) in terms of per-lesion and per-patient data.A total of 40 eligible studies comprising 1134 patients with 939 NB lesions were considered for the meta-analysis.For the staging of NB,the per-lesion AUSROC value of MIBG was lower than that of PET (CT) [0.8064±0.0414 vs.0.9366±0.0166 (P＜0.05)].The per-patient AUSROC value of MIBG and PET (CT) for the diagnosis of NB was 0.8771±0.0230 and 0.6851±0.2111,respectively.The summary sensitivity for MIBG and PET (CT) was 0.79 and 0.89,respectively.The summary specificity for MIBG and PET (CT) was 0.84 and 0.71,respectively.PET (CT) showed higher per-lesion accuracy than MIBG and might be the preferred modality for the staging of NB.On the other hand,MIBG has a comparable diagnosing performance with PET (CT) in per-patient analysis but shows a better specificity.

Expression of autophagy-related proteins PTEN and MAP1LC3 in tongue squamous cell carcinoma / 口腔疾病防治

Objective @#This study ai ms to evaluate the expression of autophagy-related protein cancer phosphatase and tensinhomology deleted on chromosome ten (PTEN) and microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (MAP1LC3) and investigate its significance in tongue squamous cell carcin oma (TSCC). @*Methods @#About 46 TSCC samples, 13 cases of precancerous lesion and 13 cases of adjacent tissues were enrolled. Immunohistochemistry were performed to examine the expression of PTEN, MAP1LC3. Statistical analyses were carried out to assess the associations among clinic pathologic parameters. @*Results @# The positive expression rate of PTEN (34.78%) in TSCC was significantly lower than that in adjacent tissues (69.23%, χ2 = 4.926, P = 0.026) and precancerous lesions (76.92%, χ2 = 7.302, P = 0.007). The positive expression rate of MAP1LC3 (28.26%) in TSCC was significantly lower than that of adjacent tissues (61.53%, χ2 = 4.896, P = 0.027) and precancerous lesions (69.23%, χ2 = 7.275, P = 0.007), the difference was statistically significant. The expression of PTEN and MAP1LC3 was not correlated with age, sex, smoking, alcohol consumption and cell differentiation (P > 0.05). There was a significant difference in the expression of PTEN and MAP1LC3 in subgroup with different clinical stage and in subgroup with or without lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). There is a significant difference in the tumor recurrence between PTEN protein expression positive subgroup and PTEN protein expression negative subgroup (χ2 = 4.629,P = 0.039), and there was no significant difference in the tumor recurrence between MAP1LC3 protein expression positive subgroup and MAP1LC3 protein expression negative subgroup (χ2 = 0.343,P = 0.453). There was a positive correlation between PTEN and MAP1LC3. @*Conclusion@#The expression of PTEN and MAP1LC3 suggested that autophagy associated proteins play a pivotal role in the progression, diagnosis and prognosis of TSCC. Down-regulation of PTEN and MAP1LC3 was observed in TSCC.

Preliminary screening of 44 plant extracts for anti-tyrosinase and antioxidant activities

In order to find new tyrosinase inhibitors and antioxidant materials, we investigated 44 plants, which were evaluated for the anti-tyrosinase and antioxidant activities. The mushroom tyrosinase inhibition assay and 2, 2-Diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl [DPPH] radical scavenging assay were conducted to evaluate these activities. Among all tested plant extracts, Morus alba L. [positive control], Rhodiola crenulata [Hook. f. et Thorns.] H. Ohba, Momordica charantia L., Cuminum cyminum L. et al exhibit higher tyrosinase inhibition. Rhodiola crenulata [Hook. f. et Thorns.] H. Ohba, Rosa rugosa Thunb. and Eugenia caryophyllata Thunb. perform the highest antioxidant activity, similar to vitamin C [the positive control]. A low positive correlation is found in the DPPH radical scavenging and tyrosinase inhibition assay. Considering these factors, the extracts of Rhodiola crenulata [Hook. f. et Thorns.] H. Ohba, Alpinia officinarum Hance and Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim, exhibit high anti-tyrosinase and antioxidant activities and could be used in the cosmetic industry. Further studies are warranted to characterize the compounds responsible for the anti-tyrosinase and antioxidant properties of these plant extracts

Association of leptin levels with pathogenetic risk of coronary heart disease and stroke: a meta-analysis / Associação entre as concentrações de leptina e o risco patogenético de doença arterial coronariana e acidente vascular cerebral: uma metanálise

Objective This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the association of leptin levels with pathogenetic risk of CHD and stroke. Materials and methods Studies were identified in the PubMed, Embase, and Springer link database without language restriction. Odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were used as effect indexes. The association of leptin levels with pathogenetic risk of CHD and stroke, as well as the risk variation of CHD with each additional one unit of leptin level were examined via meta-analysis. The publication bias was assessed via Egger’s linear regression test. Results Eight nested case-control studies consisting of 1,980 patients and 11,567 controls were included for current meta-analysis. ORs (95% CIs) of association of leptin levels with CHD and stroke was 1.90 (1.06, 3.43), and 2.14 (1.48, 3.08), respectively. In addition, significant result was obtained regarding the risk variation of CHD with each additional one unit of leptin level (OR =1.04, 95% CI =1.00‐1.08, P=0.044). There was no significant publication bias as suggested by Egger test outcomes. Conclusion There was a significant association of leptin with pathogenetic risk of CHD and stroke, and raised leptin levels could significantly increase the pathogenetic risk of CHD. .

Objetivo O objetivo desta metanálise foi investigar a associação entre os níveis de leptina e o risco patogenético de doença arterial coronariana e acidente vascular cerebral. Materiais e métodos Foram identificados estudos nas bases de dados PubMed, Embase e Springer Link sem restrição quanto à língua. A razão de chances (OR) e os intervalos de confiança de 95% correspondentes (95% CI) foram usados como índices de efeitos. A associação entre os níveis de leptina e o risco patogenético de doença arterial coronariana e acidente vascular cerebral com cada unidade adicional na concentração de leptina foi analisada por meio de metanálise. O viés da publicação foi avaliado por meio do teste de regressão linear de Egger. Resultados Oito estudos com caso controle aninhado envolvendo 1.980 pacientes e 11.567 controles foram incluídos na metanálise. As ORs (95% CIs) da associação entre as concentrações de leptina e a doença arterial coronariana e o acidente vascular cerebral foram de 1,90 (1,06; 3,43) e 2,14 (1,48; 3,08), respectivamente. Além disso, foram obtidos resultados significativos com a variação de risco para a doença arterial coronariana a cada unidade adicional na concentração de leptina (OR =1,04; 95% CI =1,00‐1,08; P=0,044). Não houve viés de publicação significativo sugerido pelos desfechos no teste de Egger. Conclusão Há associação significativa entre a leptina e o risco patogenético de doença arterial coronariana e acidente vascular cerebral, e concentrações aumentadas de leptina podem elevar significativamente o risco patogenético de doença arterial coronariana. .

Cloning, characterization and promoter analysis of common carp hairy/Enhancer-of-split-related gene, her6.

Some members of hairy/Enhancer-of-split-related gene (HES) family have important effects on axial mesoderm segmentation and the establishment and maintenance of the somite fringe. In fishes, the her6 gene, a member of the HES family, is the homologue of hes1 in mammals and chicken. In this study, the her6 gene and its full-length cDNA from the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) were isolated and characterized. The genomic sequence of common carp her6 is approximately 1.7 kb, with four exons and three introns, and the full-length cDNA of 1314 bp encodes a putative polypeptide of 271 amino acids. To analyse the promoter sequence of common carp her6, sequences of various lengths upstream from the transcription initiation site of her6 were fused to enhanced green fluorescent protein gene (eGFP) and introduced into zebrafish embryos by microinjection to generate transgenic embryos. Our results show that the upstream sequence of 500 bp can direct highly efficient and tissue-specific expression of eGFP in zebrafish embryos, whereas a fragment of 200 bp containing the TATA box and a partial suppressor of hairless paired site sequence (SPS) is not sufficient to drive eGFP expression in zebrafish embryos.