Distribution of serum total protein in elderly Chinese.

The serum total protein levels of the elderly possibly decrease gradually with aging. However, serum total protein levels are not suitable as a uniform reference standard for the elderly at different ages and genders. Thus, we investigated the total serum protein distribution in different gender and age groups of 11,453 elderly individuals aged ≥60 years and without liver or renal disease from Lianyungang, Jiangsu, China. The total protein levels (TPL) of these individuals exhibited normal distribution (Z = 1.206, P = 0.109), whereas the reference range (95% CI) was 54.1 g/L to 82.3 g/L. TPL was higher in females than in males for those aged between 60 and 75 years, whereas no significant difference was observed for those aged between 80 and 95 years. TPL was negatively correlated with age in males (r = -0.1342, P<0.05), females (r = -0.304, P<0.05), and the total group (r = -0.2136, P<0.05). TPL also decreased with aging and showed a faster rate in women than in men. These results indicated that an appropriate range of serum total protein based on age and gender differences should be used for clinical applications.

Increased catabolism of nucleic acid in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients of different ages.

Uric acid is the end product of nucleic acid catabolism for humanity. Serum uric acid level has been suggested to be associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This study aims to examine the association between serum uric acid levels and NAFLD in subjects of different ages. A cross-sectional study was performed among the patients of different ages with NAFLD (abnormal group) or without NAFLD (normal group) in Lianyungang, Jiangsu, China. The levels of serum uric acid, total cholesterol, triglyceride, and low density lipoprotein in the abnormal group were significantly higher than those in the normal group, while the level of high density lipoprotein in the abnormal group was significantly lower than that in the normal group (p<0.05). The serum uric acid prevalence, total cholesterol, triglyceride, high density lipoprotein, and low density lipoprotein in the abnormal group was significantly higher than those in the normal group (p<0.05). The serum uric acid, total cholesterol, triglyceride, and low density lipoprotein levels and prevalence rates in elderly patients were higher than younger and middle aged patients. Serum uric acid level is highly associated with NAFLD in patients of different ages.

Preparation and antibacterial activity of oligosaccharides derived from dandelion.

In this study, we prepared oligosaccharides from dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) by hydrolysis with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and investigated their antibacterial activity. The optimum hydrolysis conditions, as determined using the response surface methodology, were as follows: reaction time, 5.12h; reaction temperature, 65.53 °C and H2O2 concentration, 3.16%. Under these conditions, the maximum yield of the oligosaccharides reached 25.43%. The sugar content in the sample was 96.8%, and the average degree of polymerisation was approximately 9. The oligosaccharides showed high antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus, indicating that dandelion-derived oligosaccharides have the potential to be used as antibacterial agents.