Association of Three Simple Insulin Resistance Indexes with Prehypertension in Normoglycemic Subjects.

Background: Insulin resistance (IR) is the common pathophysiology of prehypertension and prediabetes. Recognition of IR in one of the two disease states is critical for carrying out preventive strategies of another disease state. This study aimed to explore which simple IR indexes were significantly associated with prehypertension in subjects with normoglycemia. Methods: A total of 108,370 adults without elevated fasting plasma glucose and hypertension were included in this study. The three simple IR indexes [triglycerides to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio, the product of fasting triglycerides and glucose, and metabolic score for IR (METS-IR)] were calculated. Partial correlation was used to analyze the correlation between the three indicators and blood pressure (BP) levels, and logistic regression analysis was used to explore their association with prehypertension. Results: Among the three indicators, only METS-IR had positive correlations with systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels. Furthermore, METS-IR was also significantly associated with prehypertension, irrespective of the categorization of waist circumference (WC). The odds ratios of the highest quartile were 2.223 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.044-2.417) in all subjects, 2.022 (95% CI: 1.501-2.725) in elevated WC subgroup, and 1.815 (95% CI: 1.620-2.034) in normal WC subgroup. Conclusions: METS-IR was associated with prehypertension in normoglycemic Chinese subjects, which bypasses the impact of WC and might be valuable for the management of prehypertension and the prevention of prediabetes in different ethnic groups.

A Novel Coumarin-Based Fluorescent Probe for the Detection of Hydrazine Both in Aqueous Solution and Vapor State.

A novel coumarin-based fluorescent probe CF was synthesized for the detection of hydrazine both in aqueous solution and vapor state with high sensitivity and selectivity. Upon addition of hydrazine, the solution of probe CF in MeCN-H2O (3/7, v/v, buffered CH3COOH/CH3COONa) at pH 5.0 exhibited a remarkable change in emission color from pale green to light blue, which could be recognized with naked eyes. Applied in weak acid condition, probe CF could detect hydrazine selectively with large amount of unknown environments according to the competing tests. Besides, with the limit of detection 8.32 ppb (2.6 × 10(-7) M), probe CF could well meet the request (10 ppb) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

A dansyl based fluorescence chemosensor for Hg(2+) and its application in the complicated environment samples.

We have developed a novel fluorescent chemosensor (DAM) based on dansyl and morpholine units for the detection of mercury ion with excellent selectivity and sensitivity. In the presence of Hg(2+) in a mixture solution of HEPES buffer (pH 7.5, 20 mM) and MeCN (2/8, v/v) at room temperature, the fluorescence of DAM was almost completely quenched from green to colorless with fast response time. Moreover, DAM also showed its excellent anti-interference capability even in the presence of large amount of interfering ions. It is worth noting that DAM could be used to detect Hg(2+) specifically in the Yellow River samples, which significantly implied the potential applications of DAM in the complicated environment samples.

Apoptotic effect of genistein on human colon cancer cells via inhibiting the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) pathway.

Genistein possesses a wide variety of biological activities, and it is best known for its ability to inhibit cancer progression. Its cancer-preventive effect has been attributed to various mechanisms, including the induction of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis as well as the antioxidant functions. Nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) is a signaling pathway that controls transcriptional activation of genes important for the tight regulation of many cellular processes and is aberrantly expressed in many types of cancer. Inhibitors of NF-κB pathway have shown potential anti-tumor activities. However, it is not fully elucidated in colon cancer. In the present study, we demonstrated that genistein could induce apoptosis in human colon cancer LoVo and HT-29 cells through inhibiting NF-κB pathway, as well as downregulation of Bcl-2 and upregulation of Bax, thus providing basis for clinical application of genistein in colon cancer cases.

Quercetin induces HepG2 cell apoptosis by inhibiting fatty acid biosynthesis.

Quercetin can inhibit the growth of cancer cells with the ability to act as a 'chemopreventer'. Its cancer-preventive effect has been attributed to various mechanisms, including the induction of cell-cycle arrest and/or apoptosis, as well as its antioxidant functions. Quercetin can also reduce adipogenesis. Previous studies have shown that quercetin has potent inhibitory effects on animal fatty acid synthase (FASN). In the present study, activity of quercetin was evaluated in human liver cancer HepG2 cells. Intracellular FASN activity was calculated by measuring the absorption of NADPH via a spectrophotometer. MTT assay was used to test the cell viability, immunoblot analysis was performed to detect FASN expression levels and the apoptotic effect was detected by Hoechst 33258 staining. In the present study, it was found that quercetin could induce apoptosis in human liver cancer HepG2 cells with overexpression of FASN. This apoptosis was accompanied by the reduction of intracellular FASN activity and could be rescued by 25 or 50 µM exogenous palmitic acids, the final product of FASN-catalyzed synthesis. These results suggested that the apoptosis induced by quercetin was via the inhibition of FASN. These findings suggested that quercetin may be useful for preventing human liver cancer.

A unique dansyl-based chromogenic chemosensor for rapid and ultrasensitive hydrazine detection.

We developed a new dansyl phthalimide-based fluorescent chemosensor for hydrazine detection. Upon a Gabriel type-based hydrazinolysis of dansyl phthalimide (DPI) in the presence of hydrazine in a mixture of HEPES buffer (pH 7.0, 20 mM) and DMSO (1/9, v/v) at room temperature, the chemosensor produces fluorescent dansyl-NH2 with the maximum emission wavelength changed from 475 nm to 512 nm along with a color change from yellow to colorless, allowing colorimetric detection of hydrazine by the naked eye. DPI can selectively detect hydrazine over other environmentally abundant ions. Moreover, DPI coated with silica gel TLC plates could act as a visual and fluorimetric probe for hydrazine vapor at a partial pressure of 5.5 × 10-3 mm Hg over other potentially interfering volatile analytes, including hydrogen peroxide, ethylenediamine, urea, ammonium hydroxide and methylamine. DPI can also be used for the detection of hydrazine in water samples and HeLa cells without appreciable interference from other biologically abundant analytes. The limit of detection is 6.01 ppb (1.88 × 10-7 M), which is well below the accepted limit (10 ppb) for hydrazine set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).