[Relationship between dairy and product consumption and the high-risk of cardiovascular diseases of 35-75 years old residents in 6 districts of Jiangsu Province from 2015 to 2017].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of intake of milk and milk products on high risk of cardiovascular disease. METHODS: Six districts in Jiangsu Province were selected as project sites by using cluster sampling method. The residents aged 35-75 years old in the districts were screened at early stage for high risk population of cardiovascular diseases from June 2015 to September 2017, and the risk of cardiovascular diseases was assessed, a total of 40 234 subjects were classified as high-risk subjects of cardiovascular disease((57.30±9.44) years old, 24 608 female(61.15%), 20 412 rural residents(50.72%)). Through questionnaire, physical examination, laboratory test, and propensity score matching, 35 104 subjects were finally included in this study. The t test, χ~2 test, multivariate Logistic regression and additive interaction analysis were used to analyze the data with software of SPSS 23.0. RESULTS: There were 67.30%(n=23 607) of subjects with milk and product consumption<1 d/week. With the frequency as a reference, adjusted urban and rural areas, educational level, occupation, annual family income, drinking, BMI, abdominal obesity, and intake of vegetables and fruits, multiple Logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of cardiovascular disease decreased with the increase of intake frequency of milk and milk products(P<0.001), the frequency of 4-6 d/week was the lowest(OR=0.608, 95% CI 0.546-0.677). Additive interaction analysis found that combination with vegetable consumption significantly reduced the high risk of cardiovascular diseases(P<0.05). While the high risk of cardiovascular disease was reduced by increasing fruit intake frequency at the same intake frequency of milk and products. CONCLUSION: More intake milk and product can reduce the high-risk of cardiovascular diseases. Combination with vegetables or fruits could synergistically reduce the high risk, the effect is stronger with vegetables than that with fruits.

Upregulation of FoxO3a expression through PI3K/Akt pathway attenuates the progression of lupus nephritis in MRL/lpr mice.

FoxO3a plays key roles in inflammation and autoimmunity, and the PI3K-Akt-FoxO3a pathway has been proposed to modulate diverse biological processes. The aim of the present study, using lupus murine models, was to investigate whether FoxO3a contributes to the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis. LY294002 was used as an inhibitor of PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. FoxO3a-targeted small interfering RNA (siRNA) was also used for in vivo intervention. Female MRL/lpr mice were separately injected with LY294002, LY294002+siFoxO3a, and LY294002+siControl for 8 weeks. C57BL/6 mice were normal controls. Disease development, including serum creatinine (CRE), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), proteinuria, and renal pathological changes, was monitored. Levels of anti-dsDNA antibodies and immune complex (IC) deposition in the kidney were also measured. The expression of proteins was evaluated. We found that significant downregulation of FoxO3a was detected in the kidney of MRL/lpr mice as compared with normal control mice. Blockade of p-FoxO3a activation by LY294002 suppressed PI3K/Akt/FoxO3a pathway and the subsequent upregulation of FoxO3a in the nucleus resulting in the severity of inflammation and fibrosis in the kidney of MRL/lpr mice. Also, improved kidney function and decreased circulating anti-dsDNA antibodies were due to the upregulation of FoxO3a. Opposite results were obtained by specific siRNA silencing of Foxo3a in vivo. In conclusion, our research demonstrated that the upregulation of FoxO3a expression through inhibiting PI3K/Akt pathway attenuates murine lupus nephritis (LN). Thus, our results suggest that targeting of FoxO3a can be considered as a novel strategy for the treatment of LN.

Prevent Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) Programs and Enhancement of Maternal Healthcare Infrastructure to Improve Early Detection of Maternal Syphilis in Shanghai, China.

This study aimed to compare the screening and diagnosis of maternal syphilis in Shanghai between the national and municipal prevent mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of syphilis policies, and then to assess whether PMTCT programs and enhancing healthcare infrastructure could bring about an early detection of maternal syphilis. Detection of maternal syphilis was initiated in 2001 and then scaled-up in 2011 along with the enhancement of antenatal healthcare infrastructure. The initial five-year periods of municipal and national PMTCT policies were defined as the "exploring period" (2002⁻2006) and the "comprehensive period" (2011⁻2015). The demographic and gestational weeks (GW) of syphilis screening and diagnosis were analyzed to identify the factors affecting early detection. During the study period, maternal syphilis screening increased from 83,718 in 2002 to 243,432 in 2015. Of the 1,894,062 pregnant women screened, 1526 and 2714 participants were diagnosed with maternal syphilis in 2002⁻2006 and 2011⁻2015, respectively. The average age of diagnosis was 28.36 years and non-residents accounted for 71.1%. In the comprehensive period, more women received early syphilis screening (14.0% vs. 10.8%) and diagnosis (13.3% vs. 7.3%) within 12 GWs compared with the exploring period. Significantly, early detection grew during 2011⁻2015, which was not seen in the exploring period. Multivariate analysis revealed a greater possibility for infected women to be diagnosed within 16 GWs (OR = 2.76) in the comprehensive period, but those who were non-residents and unemployed were less likely to receive early detection. In conclusion, early detection of maternal syphilis has been remarkably improved. More emphasis is required on the development of pro-vulnerable policies and the implementation of tailored health education to improve the accessibility of routine antenatal care and awareness of syphilis prevention.

NLRP3 inflammasome regulates Th17 differentiation in rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most common autoimmune diseases. Th17 has been shown to play am important role in the pathogenesis of RA. Accumulating data suggest the involvement of NLRP3 inflammasome in Th17 differentiation in autoimmune diseases. In the current study, we found that NLRP3 inflammasome is activated in CD4 T cells from RA patients. The activation of NLRP3 inflammasome was correlated with disease activities and IL-17A concentration in RA sera. Knockdown of NLRP3 suppressed Th17 differentiation. In addition, caspase-1 or IL-1 receptor inhibitor inhibits Th17 differentiation significantly. Further, ROS production is increased in CD4 T cells from RA patients. The inhibition of ROS production decreased NLRP3 inflammasome activation and IL-1ß production in CD4 T cells, leading to the suppression of Th17 differentiation. These findings suggest a pathogenic role of NLRP3 inflammasome in RA by promoting Th17 cell differentiation. NLRP3 inflammasome could be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of RA.