Effect of fasting blood glucose on risk of new-onset hypertension in rural Chinese population: a 15-year follow-up cohort.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to examine the correlation between fasting blood glucose and new-onset hypertension and examine any synergistically effect modification with multiple risk factors. METHODS: We conducted post-hoc analyses of repeated-measures data in the original Dongzhi osteoporosis cohort study. In total, 3985 participants without hypertension aged 25-64 years were included in the current analyses. Generalized estimating equation models were used to assess the relationship between fasting blood glucose and risk of new-onset hypertension after adjusting for pertinent covariates and autocorrelations among siblings. RESULTS: 393 men (19.4%) and 398 women (20.3%) without hypertension at the baseline developed hypertension by the end of the study period. Compared to lower baseline fasting blood glucose levels (Q1-Q3: < 5.74 mmol/L; clinical cut points: < 5.6 mmol/L), higher baseline fasting blood glucose levels (Q4: ≥ 5.74 mmol/L; clinical cut points: ≥ 5.6 mmol/L and < 7.0 mmol/L) increased the risk of new-onset hypertension significantly [(OR: 1.54, 95% CI 1.19-1.98, P < 0.001); (OR: 1.38, 95% CI 1.09-1.75, P = 0.008)] in women. Additionally, a stronger significant association was found in women with elevated fasting blood glucose on risk of new-onset of hypertension with higher total cholesterol (≥ 5.2 mmol/L) [(OR: 2.76; 95% CI: (1.54, 4.96), P < 0.001)]. However, no association was found between fasting blood glucose and risk of new-onset hypertension in men. CONCLUSIONS: High fasting blood glucose may be significantly associated with risk of new-onset hypertension in Chinese women, especially in women with higher total cholesterol. Further randomized studies are needed to confirm our findings.

[Relationship between expression of RBM38 and distant metastasis and prognosis of breast cancer].

Objective: To investigate the relationship between the expression of RNA-binding protein 38 (RBM38) and distant metastasis and prognosis of breast cancer. Methods: A total of 161 cases of breast cancer tissues were selected, and the expression of RBM38 was detected by immunohistochemical SP method. The relationship between the expression of RBM38 and the distant metastasis and prognosis of breast cancer patients were analyzed. Cox regression model was applied to analyze the influence factors of distant metastasis of breast cancer. Results: Among the 161 breast cancer patients, high expression of RBM38 was observed in 85 cases and low expression was observed in 76 cases. Log rank test showed that the distant metastasis rate of RBM38 highly expressed group was significantly lower than that of RBM38 lowly expressed group (P=0.010), while the survival rate was significantly higher (P=0.009). Univariate Cox regression analysis showed that the pathological stage (P=0.001), axillary lymph node positive (P=0.001), and the expression of RBM38 (P=0.015) were dramatically related to the distant metastasis of breast cancer patients. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that positive axillary lymph node was an independent risk factor (RR=4.222, 95% CI: 1.235-14.432), and high expression of RBM38 was an independent protective factor (RR=0.328, 95% CI: 0.128-0.839) of distant metastasis of breast cancer patients. Conclusion: High expression of RBM38 is positively related with low distant metastasis rate and good prognosis of breast cancer patients. Hence, high expression of RBM38 is an independent protective factor of distant metastasis.

[Effect of telmisartan on peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ signaling pathway in 3T3-L1 adipocytes].

Objective: To investigate the mechanisms of telmisartan on delaying the course of type 2 diabetes. Methods: 3T3-L1 preadipocytes were induced to 80% mature adipocytes (control group) and stimulated with 50 ng/ml tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) for 1 hour (TNF-α group). Then 0.1, 5, 10 µmol/L telmisartan was added to the culture medium for 24 h, respectively(T(0.1, )T(5) and T(10) group). The cells from each group was collected to detect peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors γ (PPARγ) and its phosphorylation level, as well as upstream kinase cell cycle dependent kinase 5 (CDK5) by Western blot. Adiponectin in the culture supernatant was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). PPARγ or CDK5 of undifferentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes were silenced by using targeted short hairpin RNA (shRNA). Through infection of the cells with the retrovirus, stabled PPARγ or CDK5 knockdown cell lines were set up and screened by incubation with puromycin. 3T3-L1 adipocyte cell lines expressing serine mutant PPARγ (S273A, S112A, S186A) were obtained and thus their phosphorate sites were further determined. CDK5 knockdown cell lines were detected by oil red O staining to measure the lipid accumulation and differentiation efficiency. The 10 µmol/L telmisartan was used to treat mature CDK5 knockdown 3T3-L1 adipocytes, Western blot was used to detect PPARγ and its phosphorylation level, and ELISA was used to detect the release of adiponectin in the culture supernatant. Results: The TNF-α stimulation had no significant effect on the expression of PPARγ in each group (all P>0.05), but it could up-regulate the phosphorylation of PPARγ in the TNF-α group and down-regulate the release of adiponectin (all P<0.05). Compared with TNF-α group, telmisartan can reduce PPARγ phosphorylation levels and up-regulate adiponectin release in different degrees, among which T(5) group and T(10) group had statistically significant differences (all P<0.05), but for T(0.1) group, the difference was not significant (P>0.05). Compared with the 3T3-L1 wild type (WT) adipocytes, adiponectin in cell line with only S273A mutant did not respond to TNF-α stimulation and telmisartan intervention. Oil red O staining showed that silencing of CDK5 did not affect the differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Western blot results showed that silencing of CDK5 (shCDK5 group) had no significant effect on PPARγ expression (P>0.05), but it could down-regulate the phosphorylation of PPARγ and up-regulate release of adiponectin, compared with the randomized control group (shCon group) and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). Conclusions: Telmisartan can alleviate the increased PPARγ phosphorylation and up-regulation of adiponectin content due to TNF-α stimulation. CDK5 mediates the effect of telmisartan on PPARγ signaling pathway in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Additonally, it also demonstrated the action site of telmisartan was PPARγ Ser 273, and CDK5 is upstream kinases of PPARγ.

Epidemiology of chronic noncommunicable diseases and evaluation of life quality in elderly.

Chronic noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of death, accounting for 70% of global deaths. Also referred to as chronic diseases, NCDs mainly include cardiovascular disease (such as heart disease and stroke), cancer, chronic respiratory disease (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma), and diabetes. The incidence of NCDs is rising over time, becoming one of the most important threats to human health. As a measurement of quality of life, scales can reflect the entire health status of patients. But there are still many disadvantages in the multidimensional health status of elderly patients with chronic diseases, so it is of great significance to develop a simple and practical multidimensional health scale of good reliability and validity for chronic diseases in the elderly.

Impact of E × B shear flow on low-n MHD instabilities.

Recently, the stationary high confinement operations with improved pedestal conditions have been achieved in DIII-D [K. H. Burrell et al., Phys. Plasmas 23, 056103 (2016)], accompanying the spontaneous transition from the coherent edge harmonic oscillation (EHO) to the broadband MHD turbulence state by reducing the neutral beam injection torque to zero. It is highly significant for the burning plasma devices such as ITER. Simulations about the effects of E × B shear flow on the quiescent H-mode (QH-mode) are carried out using the three-field two-fluid model in the field-aligned coordinate under the BOUT++ framework. Using the shifted circular cross-section equilibriums including bootstrap current, the results demonstrate that the E × B shear flow strongly destabilizes low-n peeling modes, which are mainly driven by the gradient of parallel current in peeling-dominant cases and are sensitive to the Er shear. Adopting the much more general shape of E × B shear ([Formula: see text]) profiles, the linear and nonlinear BOUT++ simulations show qualitative consistence with the experiments. The stronger shear flow shifts the most unstable mode to lower-n and narrows the mode spectrum. At the meantime, the nonlinear simulations of the QH-mode indicate that the shear flow in both co- and counter directions of diamagnetic flow has some similar effects. The nonlinear mode interaction is enhanced during the mode amplitude saturation phase. These results reveal that the fundamental physics mechanism of the QH-mode may be shear flow and are significant for understanding the mechanism of EHO and QH-mode.

[Relationship between carotid plaque and diabetic retinopathy in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients].

Objective: To analyze the relevant factors for diabetic retinopathy. Methods: The data of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients undergoing general examination and ophthalmology specialist consultation were collected from the inpatients of Department of Endocrinology in Beijing Airport Hospital between 2013 and 2016, and the relevant factors of diabetic retinopathy were retrospectively analyzed. Results: A total of 432 cases were analyzed, including 168 cases of non-diabetic retinopathy and 264 cases of diabetic retinopathy. In the non-diabetic retinopathy group, there were 88 cases of male and 80 cases of female, with an mean age of (57.0± 13.6) years old. Meanwhile, the diabetic group had 142 cases of male and 122 cases of female, with an mean age of (62.7±10.4) years old. Univariate logistic regression analysis showed that age and glycosylated hemoglobin value were significantly higher in the diabetic retinopathy group than those of the non-diabetic retinopathy group, and the incidence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy, carotid plaque and central retinal thickness was significantly higher than that of the non-diabetic retinopathy group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis displayed that carotid plaque (OR=9.922, 95%CI: 3.700-26.603, P<0.001) and thinning of central retinal thickness (OR=9.639, 95%CI: 3.604-25.781, P<0.001) were independently associated with diabetic retinopathy. Conclusions: Carotid plaque is an independent risk factor for diabetic retinopathy, and thinning of central retinal thickness may indicate the progression of retinopathy. Therefore, patients with these two signs need to be observed more closely in clinical practice.

First Report of Brown Spot Disease Caused by Neoscytalidium dimidiatum on Hylocereus undatus in Guangdong, Chinese Mainland.

Pitahaya or dragon fruit [Hylocereus undatus (Haw.) Britton & Rose] is one of the most popular tropical fruits in the world. In China, it is widely planted in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, and Taiwan. In July 2011, a new pitahaya disease was found in Conghua City and Yunfu City, Guangdong Province, China, characterized by many small, circular, reddish brown spots over the diseased stems. The spots continuously expanded, and ultimately formed large areas of canker on stems. It is similar to pitahaya stem canker disease caused by Neoscytalidium dimidiatum in Taiwan (1). Pieces of tissues were collected from the lesion margins. After surface disinfestations with 1% sodium hypochloride for 1 min and rinsing in sterile water three times, the diseased tissues were placed on potato dextrose agar medium plates (PDA) and incubated at 28°C for 3 days. A dark, fast-growing fungus was isolated from all samples. For identification, single-spore cultures were grown on PDA in an incubator at 28°C. After 5 days, colonies with dark gray to black aerial mycelium formed. The colonies produced abundant conidia that occurred in arthric chains in aerial mycelium. The conidia were disarticulating, cylindrical-truncate, oblong-obtuse to doliform, dark brown, zero- to one-septate, and averaged 7.56 (5.46 to 10.30) × 6.20 (3.79 to 8.93) µm. The teleomorph was never observed in PDA culture. Based on these characteristics, the fungus was identified as N. dimidiatum (Penz.) Crous & Slippers (2). The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of rDNAs from two isolates were amplified by primers ITS1 and ITS4 (3), and then sequenced. Both sequences were completely identical and 579 bp long (GenBank Accession Nos. JX128103 and JX128104), with 99% identity to that of N. dimidiatum previously deposited (Accession No. HQ439174). To confirm its pathogenicity, six healthy detached stems of pitahaya designed as two replicates were inoculated by injecting 10 µl of conidia suspension (1 × 106 conidia per ml). Three stems were inoculated with sterile water as controls. The inoculated stems were kept in an incubator at 28°C in dark. The stems exhibited the same symptoms as described above after 10 days post inoculation, whereas no symptoms developed on the control stems. The fungus was reisolated from the lesions of the inoculated stem. These results indicated that N. dimidiatum was the pathogen of pitahaya brown spot disease. To our knowledge, this is the first report of brown spot caused by N. dimidiatum on H. undatus on the Chinese mainland. References: (1) M. F. Chuang et al. Plant Dis. 96:906, 2012. (2) P. W. Crous et al. Stud. Mycol. 55:235, 2006. (3) T. J. White et al. Page 315 in: PCR Protocols: A Guide to Methods and Applications. M. A. Innis et al., eds. Academic Press, New York, 1990.

Effects of soybean isoflavone on growth performance, meat quality, and antioxidation in male broilers.

To investigate the effects of a synthetic soybean isoflavone (ISF) on growth performance, meat quality, and antioxidation in male broilers, 1,500 birds that were 42 d old were allotted to 5 treatments with 6 replicates per treatment (50 birds per replicate). Birds were fed diets supplemented with 0, 10, 20, 40, or 80 mg of ISF/kg, respectively, for a period of 3 wk ad libitum. The results showed that dietary supplementations with 10 or 20 mg of ISF/kg increased weight gain by 13.6 and 16.2% (P < 0.01) and elevated feed intake by 7.37% (P < 0.05) and 11.2% (P < 0.01), respectively. Addition of 10 mg of ISF/kg decreased feed:gain by 5.5% (P < 0.05). Supplementation with 40 mg of ISF/kg in the diet slightly increased water-holding capacity by 17.24% (P < 0.1), and the addition of 20 or 40 mg/kg of ISF significantly increased the pH value of meat (P < 0.01), although adding 40 or 80 mg of ISF/kg increased the lightness of meat color (P < 0.05). Malondialdehyde production was slightly reduced in plasma of 20 mg of ISF/kg supplemented chickens (P < 0.1) and significantly decreased in breast muscles of 20, 40, or 80 mg of ISF/kg supplemented chickens (P < 0.01). The addition of 40 or 80 mg of ISF/kg significantly increased total antioxidant capability (P < 0.01) and slightly elevated total superoxide dismutase activity (P < 0.1) in plasma of chickens. The dose of 80 mg of ISF/kg slightly improved catalase activity in plasma (P < 0.06). In breast muscle, treatment of birds with 40 or 80 mg of ISF/kg caused an increase of total superoxide dismutase activity by 25.36% (P < 0.05) or 63.93% (P < 0.01). Catalase activity significantly increased by 70.61% by the supplemental ISF at the 40-mg level (P < 0.05). Also, 10, 20, or 40 mg doses of ISF/kg decreased lactic acid production (P < 0.05). The results of this study indicate that dietary ISF could improve growth performance and meat quality by decreasing lipid peroxidation and improving antioxidative status in male broilers.

Generation and identification of the transient intermediates of allophycocyanin by laser photolytic and pulse radiolytic techniques.

PURPOSE: To explore the photophysical and photochemical properties of allophycocyanin (APC) and contribute to the understanding of the molecular mechanism of APC photosensitization. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Laser-flash photolytic and pulse radiolytic techniques were used for the first time to characterize the transient intermediates involved in APC photochemistry and photophysics. The excited triplet state and radical cation of APC were identified by acetone sensitization and one-electron oxidation. RESULTS: The 248-nm laser-flash photolysis of APC in N(2)-saturated aqueous solution (pH 7.0) yields the triplet state and radical cation of APC. The APC radical cations were generated by ionization via a monophotonic process, with a quantum yield of 0.17. CONCLUSIONS: APC can undergo both photo-excitation and photo-ionization under the present experimental conditions. These new findings suggest that APC has the potential to act as both a type I and type II photosensitizer.

Number of phase levels in a two-dimensional separable Talbot array illuminator.

The number of phase levels in a Talbot array illuminator (TAIL) is an important factor for estimation of practical fabrication complexity and cost. We show that the number of phase levels in a two-dimensional TAIL (2D-TAIL) has a simple relation to the prime number. When the output array is alternatively pi phase modulated, there are similar simple relations. These simple relations should be highly interesting for practical use. An experiment with the 2D-TAIL based on the joint-Talbot effect is given as well.

Number of phase levels of a talbot array illuminator.

The number of phase levels of a Talbot array illuminator is an important factor in the estimation of practical fabrication complexity and cost. We show that the number (L) of phase levels of a Talbot array illuminator has a simple relationship to the prime number. When there is an alternative pi-phase modulation in the output array, the relations are similar.

[Effects of different processed products of radix Angelica sinensis on clearing out oxygen free radicals and anti-lipid peroxidation].

Different processed products of Radix Angelica Sinensis could clear out superoxide radical (O2.-) generated through hypoxanthinexanthine oxidase system and hydroxyl radical (.OH) generated through Fenton action, and inhibit lipid peroxidation of supernatant hepati homogenate in mice induced by free radical generation system. There exist significant differences among the different processed products.

Morphological, biochemical, and genetic support for an apolipoprotein E effect on microtubular metabolism.

There are two distinct viewpoints on the association of the inheritance of apolipoprotein E (APOE) alleles and the age of onset distribution of Alzheimer's disease (AD): genetic and phenotypic expression. There have been multiple corroborations of the APOE-epsilon 4 association with Alzheimer's disease in populations around the world in clinic based studies as well as emerging epidemiological studies. The genetic data do not imply mechanism of pathogenesis. The phenotypic expression of AD has been based in theories based on amyloid plaques or neurofibrillary tangles. ApoE protein interacts with both beta-amyloid and tau in an isoform-specific manner. The interaction with tau had been thought to be an in vitro artifact, since apoE had not been previously localized to the neuronal cytoplasm. Immuno-EM studies have localized apoE in neuronal cytoplasm. ApoE3 interacts with both tau and MAP2c at the microtubule binding repeat domain under conditions in which apoE4 is less tightly bound. These data further support a hypothesis that apoE3 (and apoE2) protect the microtubule binding domain of tau from binding to itself to form paired helical filaments and neurofibrillary tangles, while protecting the site for microtubule stabilizing interactions with beta-tubulin. These data are supported by recent data from APOE knock-out mice demonstrating dendritic alterations leading to synaptic simplification similar to that observed in AD.

[The damaging effect of activated human neutrophils on isolated perfused rat lungs--the role of elastase].

Human neutrophil and its elastase play an important role in the pathogenesis of various lung diseases. We investigated the damaging effect of human neutrophils stimulated with PMA (phorbol myristate acetate 10ng/ml) or calcium ionophase A23187 (2ng/ml) on isolated perfused rat lungs. The study specimens consisted of 4 groups of animals. A control, B perfused with human neutrophils, C perfused with human neutrophils stimulated with PMA, and D perfused with human neutrophils stimulated with A23187. By using the ELISA method, we found that the level of human neutrophil elastase (HNE) in perfusate increased significantly at 30min (1.68 +/- 0.79ng/ml P < 0.05) and 60min (2.35 +/- 0.87 ng/ml P < 0.01) after PMA stimulating, but the HNE in the lung lavage fluid of the same group only slightly increased and the concentration of protein in lavage fluid did not change. After stimulating with A23187, the concentration of HNE in perfusate increased markedly at 30min (4.03 +/- 1.96ng/ml P < 0.01) and maintained at high level (P < 0.01). There was a significant increase of HNE level in lung lavage fluid (2.49 +/- 0.61ng/ml) from group D rat lungs, compared with group A, B or C, and the protein as well (1.61 +/- 0.58mg/ml P < 0.05). All the results indicate that the stimulated human neutrophils can release elastase in perfused rat lung. Neutrophil stimulated with A23187 can increase pulmonary permeability and injure the lung. We suggest that the lung damage, caused by human neutrophils, may be the effect of neutrophil elastase or the synergistic effect with some other substances derived from neutrophil.

The protective effect of colchicine on bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats.

With the purpose of evaluating the therapeutic effect of colchicine on lung fibrosis in rats, bleomycin A5 (BLM-A5) was injected intratracheally to produce a lung fibrosis model. The animals were then treated with colchicine, 50 micrograms/d i.m. One month later, collagen fiber deposition scores (stained by Masson trichrome) were significantly lower in the treated group than in the untreated group (P less than 0.01). This result was proved further by assaying total lung hydroxyproline content (P less than 0.05). Histopathologic findings showed that the proliferation of fibroblasts dropped slightly in the treated group as compared with the untreated group. From this study, we conclude that colchicine has certain antifibrotic effects and may be used in the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis.