Associations of exposure to secondhand smoke with hypertension risk and blood pressure values in adults

BACKGROUND@#The effects of environmental chemical exposure on blood pressure (BP) have been confirmed, but the association between exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) and hypertension risk and BP in the general population remains unknown.@*METHODS@#Cross-sectional associations between SHS exposure and hypertension risk and BP values were evaluated using data for subjects who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 1999-2016. Logistic regression and linear regression were performed after adjusting for age, sex, race, alcohol consumption, poverty-to-income ratio (PIR), body mass index (BMI), estimated glomerular filtration rate, physical activity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and NHANES cycle. Restricted cubic spline models were created to display the potential nonlinear association between SHS and BP levels.@*RESULTS@#Higher risk of hypertension was found at the highest SHS concentrations (OR = 1.13, 95% CI 1.04, 1.24, P for trend = 0.007). Additionally, SHS exposure had a strong positive association with systolic blood pressure (SBP) but was negatively associated with diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Furthermore, the nonlinear model result showed a significant association between SHS and SBP (P = 0.017); however, the nonlinear model result was not significant for SHS or DBP.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Our results suggest a potential association between high SHS exposure and the risk of hypertension. Further research is needed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.

Study on the Mechanism of Gegen Qinlian Decoction for Lowering Blood Lipids and Preventing Blood Glucose Increase Based on Intestinal Flora / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE：To study the ef fects of Gegen qinlian decoction （GGQLD）on blood lipid and blood glucose of hyperlipidemia（HLP）model rats ，and to explore its mechanism from the perspective of intestinal flora. METHODS ：Totally 48 rats were randomly divided into blank control group （n＝8）and modeling group （n＝40）. For consecutive 5 weeks，model group was given high-lipid diet to induce HLP model ；blank control group was given routine diet. After modeling ，30 modeling rats were randomly divided into model group ，simvastatin group （positive control ，10 mg/kg），GGQLD high-dose ，medium-dose and low-dose groups （14.85，4.95，1.65 g/kg，by crude drug ），with 6 rats in each group. Blank control group and model group were given constant volume of normal saline intragastrically ；administration groups were given relevant medicine intragastrically ，once a day，for consecutive 11 weeks. At the same time ，each group was continuously given corresponding diet. After the last medication ， body mass and body length of rats were determined ，and Lee ’s index was calculated. Serum levels of TG ，TC，HDL-C，LDL-C and fasting blood glucose （FBG）were determined in rats. DNA of rat caecum content was extracted for 16S rRNA V 3-V4 region sequencing. The Two-part model was used to analyze the correlation between intestinal flora with lipids and blood glucose. RESULTS：After 11 weeks of administration ，compared with blank control group ，the body mass ，body length ，Lee’s index ， serum levels of TC ，TG，HDL-C and FBG of model group were increased significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01），while the level of HDL-C was decreased significantly （P＜0.05）. Compared with model group ，body mass and Lee ’s index and serum levels of TG ， FBG of rats in GGQLD high-dose group ，and serum levels of TC ，TG in GGQLD medium-dose group ，as well as serum level of TG of rats in GGQLD low-dose group was decreased significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. Correlation analysis with intestinal flora showed that TC and TG shared 3 operational taxonomic units （OTU），including OTU 559，OTU701 and OTU 135（OTU135 was also shared with FBG ），which were all positively correlated with the level of TC ，TG and FBG （P＜0.01）. The three OTU were annotated as Tyzzerella of Spirillaceae ，Anaerotruncus of Verrucaceae and Peptoclostridium of Streptococcidae ，respectively. High-dose and low-dose GGQLD had a down-regulating effect on Tyzzerella and Anaerotruncus（P＜0.05 or P＜0.01），while had up-regulating effect on Peptoclostridium（P＜0.01）. CONCLUSIONS ：High-dose GGQLD （14.85 g/kg）can effectively reduce the body mass and blood lipid of HLP model rats ，and can prevent the abnormal increase of blood glucose of model rats. The mechanism may be associated with that the reduction of intestinal flora （Tyzzerella，Anaerotruncus）content.