Comparison of different obesity indices in predicting risk of hypertension among adults in Gansu Province / 西安交通大学学报(医学版)

【Objective】 To compare the ability of body mass index （BMI）， body fat percentage （BFP）， waist circumference （WC）， waist-to-height ratio （WHtR）， visceral fat index （VFI） and the combinations of two kinds of obesity indices to predict the risk of hypertension. 【Methods】 Data collected in the baseline survey of “Gansu Province’s Urban and Rural Natural Population Cohort Establishment and Tumor Follow-up Study” were analyzed. Area under the curve （AUC） of ROC curve with covariates was used to analyze and compare the effects of individual obesity evaluation index and the combination of two kinds of obesity indices in predicting the risk of hypertension. 【Results】 Analyses of data of 20，079 adults showed that the AUC of BMI， WC， WHtR， BFP and VFI was 0.636， 0.604， 0.615， 0.614 and 0.619， respectively. AUC of the combination of BMI and WC （0.643） was higher than that of BMI （0.636）； however， the change rate of AUC was only 1.09%. AUC of the combinations of WC， WHtR and VFI， the three central obesity evaluation indices， and BFP， a general obesity evaluation index， were lower than that of BMI. The optimal cutoff value for BMI was 24.2 kg/m2. 【Conclusion】 The effect of BMI in predicting the risk of hypertension is better than that of BFP， WC， WHtR and VFI. The effects of the combinations of the two kinds of obesity evaluation indices are not better than that of BMI. To prevent and control hypertension， adults should keep their BMI under overweight.

The association between the frequency of prenatal care in childbearing aged women and risk of small for gestational age among neonatal twins in Shaanxi Province / 中华预防医学杂志

Objective@#To explore the association between the frequency of prenatal care in childbearing aged women and risk of small for gestational age (SGA) among neonatal twins in Shaanxi Province.@*Methods@#From July to December 2013, a total of 30 027 childbearing aged women, who were pregnant from January 2010 to November 2013 and had definite outcomes, were selected from 30 districts (counties) of Shaanxi Province by using the multi-stage random sampling method. The questionnaires with a face-to-face survey method were used to retrospectively collect demographic information, pregnancy history, lifestyle during pregnancy, disease history, nutritional supplements, and health care during pregnancy. Information on the gestational age and birth weight of the newborn were obtained by consulting the medical certificate of birth and were registered as twin A and twin B by birth order. Finally, 356 childbearing aged women and their twin babies with complete data were included in the analysis. A generalized estimation equation model was used to analyze the association between the frequency of prenatal care and the risk of SGA among neonatal twins.@*Results@#The age of childbearing aged women was (27.44±4.68) years old, of which 79.49% (283 women) were rural residents and 44.38% (158 women) had seven or more times prenatal care. The gestational age and birth weight were (37.64±2.51) weeks and (2 510±497) g, respectively. The prevalence of SGA was 51.40% (183/356) for twin A and 53.37% (190/356) for twin B, respectively. The prevalence of SGA was 44.30% (70/158) for twin A with seven or more times prenatal care and 42.41% (67/158) for twin B with seven or more times prenatal care, which was lower than that for twins with less than seven times prenatal care, respectively [57.07% (113/198) and 62.12% (123/198)] (P values were 0.017 and <0.001). The results of generalized estimation equation model suggested that compared to those with less than seven times prenatal care, after adjusting for parity, birth order, place of residence, maternal age, occupation, education, family wealth index, passive smoking, pregnancy-induced hypertension syndrome, folic acid, and iron supplement during perinatal period, and gender of the newborn, the OR (95%CI) of risk of SGA among childbearing aged women with seven or more times prenatal care was 0.60 (0.40-0.91).@*Conclusion@#Seven or more times prenatal care could reduce the risk of SGA among neonatal twins in Shanxi Province.

Relationship between preterm birth of infant and medication during pregnancy in women of childbearing age in Shaanxi / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective@#To understand the relationship between medication during pregnancy and single live preterm birth of infant in women of childbearing age in Shaanxi province.@*Methods@#A cross-sectional design was used in this study and stratified multistage random sampling method was used. A questionnaire survey was conducted in the childbearing-aged women selected through multi stage stratified random sampling in Shaanxi during 2010 to 2013. Qualitative datum was described by percentage and measurement datum was described by mean±standard deviation. Logistic regression analysis was done to evaluate the relationship between medication during pregnancy and preterm birth of infant.@*Results@#The overall incidence rate of premature birth was 2.7% in Shaanxi. Among the 28 841 mothers participating in this study, the proportion of medication use at any time during pregnancy was 15.8%, and the most commonly used drug was cold medicine (5.9%). After adjusting all confounding factors, the multivariable logistic regression analysis results showed that taking hormone medicine (OR=2.23, 95%CI: 1.19-4.18), antihypertensive medicine (OR=7.74, 95%CI: 4.28-13.95) and other medicines (OR=2.15, 95%CI: 1.60-2.89) during early pregnancy were the risk factors for preterm delivery, the risk was 2.23 times, 7.74 times and 2.15 times higher compared with those taking no these medicines.@*Conclusion@#Using hormone medicine, antihypertensive medicine and other medicines during pregnancy increased the risk for preterm delivery in women of childbearing age in Shaanxi.

Construction and expression of recombinant fusion protein of thioredoxin-ApoO / 中南大学学报(医学版)

Objective To construct human apolipoprotein O (apolipoprotein O, ApoO) expression vector and obtain recombinant fusion protein thioredoxin (Trx)-ApoO by pET prokaryotic expression system. Methods The ApoO gene fragment from the human liver cDNA library was amplified by PCR. The resulting product was cloned into pET-32a(+) vector and sequenced. The confirmed cDNA was cloned into plasmid E.coli DH10B and then transformed into E.coli BL 21 (DE3) where it was induced to express protein by isopropyl β-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG).The fusion protein was purified by Ni-NTA resin. Results The ApoO gene was cloned by PCR and a 519 bp DNA fragment was shown on the agarose electrophoresis. The cloned gene was sequenced and demonstrated to have the same sequence as that of human ApoO gene in GenBank which justified a successful construction of recombinant plasmid. ApoO cDNA gene fragment was induced by IPTG, and a 34 kD recombinant fusion protein Trx-ApoO was tested on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide (SDS-PAGE). Conclusion Human ApoO gene is successfully cloned and its recombinant fusion protein Trx-ApoO is expressed.

The status and prospects of niacin and its combination therapy with statins / 中国药理学通报

Niacin, a broad-spectrum lipid-regulating agent, can significantly lower plasma triglyceride and raise the high density lipoprotein-cholesterol.Extended-release niacin added to statins monotherapy could further modify the lipid profile and reduce residual cardiovascular risk.This combination therapy provides a safe, effective and economical treatment for clinicians and may be superior to other drugs combined with statins.