Neuroprotective effects of Longxue Tongluo Capsule on ischemic stroke rats revealed by LC-MS/MS-based metabolomics approach / 中草药·英文版

OBJECTIVE@#The present study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effect and explore the underlying mechanisms of Longxue Tongluo Capsule (LTC) on ischemic stroke rats.@*METHODS@#Twenty-six rats were randomly divided into four groups, including sham group, sham + LTC group, MCAO group, and MCAO + LTC group. Ischemic stroke rats were simulated by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), and LTC treatment group were orally administrated with 300 mg/kg of LTC once daily for seven consecutive days. LTC therapy was validated in terms of neurobehavioral abnormality evaluation, cerebral infarct area, and histological assessments. The plasma metabolome comparisons amongst different groups were conducted by UHPLC-Q Exactive MS in combination with subsequent multivariate statistical analysis, aiming to finding the molecules in respond to the surgery or LTC treatment.@*RESULTS@#Intragastric administration of LTC significantly decreased not only the neurobehavioral abnormality scores but also the cerebral infarct area of MCAO rats. The interstitial edema, atrophy, and pyknosis of glial and neuronal cells occurred in the infarcted area, core area, and marginal area of cerebral cortex were improved after LTC treatment. A total of 13 potential biomarkers were observed, and Youden index of 11 biomarkers such as LysoPC, SM, and PE were more than 0.7, which were involved in neuroprotective process. The correlation and pathway analysis showed that LTC was beneficial to ischemic stroke rats via regulating glycerophospholipid and sphingolipid metabolism, together with nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolism. Heatmap and ternary analysis indicated the synergistic effect of carbohydrates and lipids may be induced by flavonoid intake from LTC.@*CONCLUSION@#The present study could provide evidence that metabolomics, as systematic approach, revealed its capacity to evaluate the holistic efficacy of TCM, and investigate the molecular mechanism underlying the clinical treatment of LTC on ischemic stroke.

Identification of active components of Dendrobium inhibit growth of gastric cancer cells based on component-activity relationship / 中国中药杂志

Three cancer cell lines including gastric cancer SGC-7901, HGC-27, and MGC-803 cells were employed to evaluate the bioactivity of seven Dendrobium species. Simultaneously, these Dendrobium species were assessed with UPLC-Q-TOF-MS, and 504 common peaks were found. Based on the hypothesis that biological effects varied with differences in components, multivariate relevance analysis for chemical component-activity relationship of Dendrobium, including grey relation(GRA) and partial least squares(PLS) analysis were performed to evaluate the contribution of each identified component. The target peaks were identified by standards toge-ther with databases of Dendrobium, Nature Chemistry, MassBank, etc. Finally, four active components, including 3,5,9-trihydroxy-23-methylergosta-7,22-dien-6-one, diacylglycerol(14∶1/22∶6/0∶0), pipercitine, and 22-tricosenoic acid, might have negative effect on the growth of gastric cancer cells.

Proliferation of MicroRNA-365 and E74-like Factor 4 in Cervical Cancer Cells and Its Clinical Significance / 中国医学科学院学报

Objective To investigate the expressions,roles,and clinical significance of microRNA-365(miR-365)and E74-like factor 4(ELF4)in cervical cancer. Methods The expressions of miR-365 in normal cervical tissues(n=34),cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 1(CIN 1)(n=31),cervical intraepithelial neoplasia2-3(CIN 2-3)(n=37),squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix(SCC)(n=33),and three cervical cancer cell lines(C33A cells,Hela cells,and SiHa cells)were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(qPCR).Bioinformatic prediction and luciferase reporter gene assay were performed to verify whether ELF4 was a direct target of miR-365.Western blot and immunohistochemistry were used to detect ELF4 expression in cervical cancer cells and in different pathological cervix tissues.CCK8 assay was used to detect the effect of overexpression or inhibition of miR-365 on the proliferation of cervical cancer cells at different time points.The relationships among the miR-365 expression,ELF4 expression,and clinicopathological parameters of cervical cancer were analyzed by correlation analysis. Results qPCR results showed that compared with the normal cervical cell HcerEpic,the expressions of miR-365 in CIN1,CIN2-3,and cervical cancer tissues gradually decreased with the increased pathologic grade,and its expressions also decreased in different cervical cancer cell lines.The luciferase reporter gene assay confirmed that ELF4 was the direct target of miR-365.Western blot showed that the expression of ELF4 increased in all three cervical cancer cell lines compared with normal cervical epidermal cell(P=0.013,P=0.002,P=0.004).Immunohistochemistry showed that ELF4 expression was up-regulated in CIN and cervical cancer tissues.CCK8 assay showed that overexpression of miR-365 inhibited cell proliferation,while inhibition of miR-365 promoted the proliferation of three cervical cancer cells(PConclusion The decreased expression of miR-365 in human cervical cancer cells relieves its inhibitory effect on ELF4,which promotes the proliferation of cervical cancer cells and the formation of tumor.

Clinical analysis of patients underwent hysterectomy for stage Ⅰ cervical cancer or high grade ;cervical intraepithelial neoplasia with vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia / 中华妇产科杂志

Objective To analyse the necessity of colposcopic directed biopsy to vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia (VAIN) before hysterectomy due to early stage cervical cancer (stage Ⅰ) or high grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). Methods A total of 669 patients who underwent a hysterectomy due to early stage cervical cancer (stage Ⅰ) and CINⅢin Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University,from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2013 and followed up, 99 patients with VAIN were enrolled. The clinical data and following up the prognosis were prospectively analyzed retrospectively. Results The occurrence rate of VAIN before and after hysterectomy due to cervical dysplasia was 14.8%(99/669), the occurrence rate and the grade of VAIN showed that significantly increased from CINⅢto cervical cancer stageⅠ(P<0.05);Only 15 patients enrolled had undergone vaginal wall biopsy by colposcopy pre-hysterectomy, including 11 patients who were diagnosed with VAINⅡ-Ⅲand underwent vagina extended resection during the hysterectomy. The 5 year recurrence rate of vaginal stump VAIN after hysterectomy was 12.1%(12/99) and the progression rate was 4.0%(4/99), the recurrent rate was 2.0%(2/99). Conclusions For all the patients who are planning to undergo hysterectomy due to stageⅠcervical cancer and CINⅢ, routine upper side of the vagina wall colposcopic-directed biopsy pre-hysterectomy is strongly recommended. All the patients after hysterectomy due to cervical dysplasia should be followed up regularly within 3 years after hysterectomy.

Cytotoxicity of polyaniline nanomaterial on rat celiac macrophages in vitro.

Polyaniline nanomaterial (nPANI) is getting popular in many industrial fields due to its conductivity and stability. The fate and effect of nPANI in the environment is of paramount importance towards its technological applications. In this work, the cytotoxicity of nPANI, which was prepared by rapid surface polymerization, was studied on rat celiac macrophages. Cell viability of macrophages treated with various concentrations of nPANI and different periods ranging from 24 to 72 hours was tested by a MTT assay. Damages of nPANI to structures of macrophages were evaluated according to the exposure level of cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and change of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). We observed no significant effects of nPANI on the survival, ROS level and MMP loss of macrophages at concentrations up to 1 µg/ml. However, higher dose of nPANI (10 µg/ml or above) induced cell death, changes of ROS level and MMP. In addition, an increase in the expression level of caspase-3 protein and its activated form was detected in a Western blot assay under the high dose exposure of nPANI. All together, our experimental results suggest that the hazardous potential of nPANI on macrophages is time- and dose-dependent and high dose of nPANI can induce cell apoptosis through caspase-3 mediated pathway.

[Validation and generalizability of the predictive model of ischemic cardiovascular diseases in Chinese].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the applicability of developed prediction models of ischemic cardiovascular diseases (ICVD) in Chinese to other Chinese populations. METHOD: We used the independent prospective cohort established in early 1990's from China Multi-Center Collaborative Study of Cardiovascular Epidemiology (MUCA), as the validation cohort, to test the hypothesis. The area under ROC curve (AUC) based on the application of the Cox optimal model and the simplified model to the validation cohort were calculated and to test the ability of the prediction models to discriminate events from nonevents. Applicability was evaluated by comparing the mean probability estimates in each decile of probability in the validation cohort with the observed incidence with the Hosmer-Lemeshow test. RESULTS: The validation cohort enrolled a total of 17 329 men and women aged 35 to 59 years baseline 1992 - 1994. In this paper, we used data from the remaining 15 100 participants after excluding 2229 subjects for at missing value of risk factors. During 11-year follow up of the cohort, there were 347 ICVD events (206 for men and 141 for women), including 83 coronary heart disease events (56 men and 27 women) and 268 ischemic strokes (154 men and 114 women). ROC curves for men and women showed good and almost identical discrimination for optimal model (the AUCs (95% CI) were 0.796 (0.762 - 0.829) for men and 0.791 (0.755 - 0.828) for women), simplified model (the AUCs (95% CI) were 0.792 (0.758 - 0.825) for men and 0.783 (0.746 - 0.821) for women) and score system (the AUCs (95% CI) were 0.791 (0.757 - 0.825) for men and 0.779 (0.741 - 0.817) for women) in the validation cohort. The predicted 10-year risk of ICVD by optimal models and observed incidence of ICVD in the validation cohort in each decile were compared. Hosmer-Lemeshow chi2 was 3.7 for men (P = 0.879) and 27.7 for women (P < 0.001). Whereas the largest difference between the observed rate and the predicted rate was only 1%. CONCLUSIONS: The prediction models for estimating 10-year risk of ICVD had satisfied predictive capability when they were applied to the validation cohort and are applicable to other Chinese populations.

[Cut offs and risk stratification of dyslipidemia in Chinese adults].

OBJECTIVE: To establish cut offs and risk stratification of dyslipidemia in Chinese adults. METHODS: Data from 2 widely cited studies: the PRC-US Collaborative Study of Cardiovascular and Cardiopulmonary Epidemiology and the China Multi-Provincial Cardiovascular Cohort Study, with a total of 40 719 Chinese adults, age 35 to 64 at baseline, about half men and half women, followed up for a total of 345 140.5 person years, were used to analyze the relationship between dyslipidemia and ischemic cardiovascular diseases (ICVD, including coronary heart events and ischemic stroke events) using a common data analysis protocol co-developed by the scientists from the 2 studies. The relative risk was estimated with the Cox proportional hazard model adjusting for other conventional cardiovascular risk factors. The 10-year absolute risk of ICVD for a 50 years-old person at different risk factor combinations was used to develop the risk stratification. RESULTS: (1) There was a continuous linear relationship between baseline TC (or LDL-C) and ICVD risk without a threshold; (2) The incidence (absolute risk) of ICVD was similar for LDL-C < 3.37 mmol/L (130 mg/dl) and for TC < 5.18 mmol/L (200 mg/dl); and similar for LDL-C < 4.14 mmol/L (160 mg/dl) and for TC < 6.22 mmol/L (240 mg/dl); (3) The absolute ICVD risk for TC > or = 6.22 mmol/L (240 mg/dl) was slightly less but close to that for grade 1 hypertension; (4) ICVD risk increased as HDL-C decreased; (5) No significant association was found between baseline TG and subsequent ICVD; (6) At any TC level, the absolute ICVD risk for those having only hypertension was higher than that for those having 3 other risk factors. CONCLUSION: The cut offs for diagnosis of dyslipidemia in Chinese adults can refer to those used in relevant international guidelines: TC < 5.18 mmol/L (200 mg/dl) [or LDL-C < 3.37 mmol/L (130 mg/dl)] as normal, TC 5.18 - 6.19 mmol/L (200 - 239 mg/dl) [or LDL-C 3.37 - 4.12 mmol/L (130 - 159 mg/dl)] as borderline high, and TC > or = 6.22 mmol/L (240 mg/dl) [or LDL-C > or = 4.14 mmol/L (160 mg/dl)] as high; HDL-C < 1.04 mmol/L (40 mg/dl) as low, 1.04 - 1.53 mmol/L (40 - 59 mg/dl) as normal and > or = 1.55 mmol/L (60 mg/dl) as optimal. In risk stratification scheme, hypertension plays a role that equals to that of any other 3 risk factors.

Cut offs and risk stratification of dyslipidemia in Chinese adults / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish cut offs and risk stratification of dyslipidemia in Chinese adults.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Data from 2 widely cited studies: the PRC-US Collaborative Study of Cardiovascular and Cardiopulmonary Epidemiology and the China Multi-Provincial Cardiovascular Cohort Study, with a total of 40 719 Chinese adults, age 35 to 64 at baseline, about half men and half women, followed up for a total of 345 140.5 person years, were used to analyze the relationship between dyslipidemia and ischemic cardiovascular diseases (ICVD, including coronary heart events and ischemic stroke events) using a common data analysis protocol co-developed by the scientists from the 2 studies. The relative risk was estimated with the Cox proportional hazard model adjusting for other conventional cardiovascular risk factors. The 10-year absolute risk of ICVD for a 50 years-old person at different risk factor combinations was used to develop the risk stratification.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1) There was a continuous linear relationship between baseline TC (or LDL-C) and ICVD risk without a threshold; (2) The incidence (absolute risk) of ICVD was similar for LDL-C < 3.37 mmol/L (130 mg/dl) and for TC < 5.18 mmol/L (200 mg/dl); and similar for LDL-C < 4.14 mmol/L (160 mg/dl) and for TC < 6.22 mmol/L (240 mg/dl); (3) The absolute ICVD risk for TC > or = 6.22 mmol/L (240 mg/dl) was slightly less but close to that for grade 1 hypertension; (4) ICVD risk increased as HDL-C decreased; (5) No significant association was found between baseline TG and subsequent ICVD; (6) At any TC level, the absolute ICVD risk for those having only hypertension was higher than that for those having 3 other risk factors.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The cut offs for diagnosis of dyslipidemia in Chinese adults can refer to those used in relevant international guidelines: TC < 5.18 mmol/L (200 mg/dl) [or LDL-C < 3.37 mmol/L (130 mg/dl)] as normal, TC 5.18 - 6.19 mmol/L (200 - 239 mg/dl) [or LDL-C 3.37 - 4.12 mmol/L (130 - 159 mg/dl)] as borderline high, and TC > or = 6.22 mmol/L (240 mg/dl) [or LDL-C > or = 4.14 mmol/L (160 mg/dl)] as high; HDL-C < 1.04 mmol/L (40 mg/dl) as low, 1.04 - 1.53 mmol/L (40 - 59 mg/dl) as normal and > or = 1.55 mmol/L (60 mg/dl) as optimal. In risk stratification scheme, hypertension plays a role that equals to that of any other 3 risk factors.</p>

Validation and generalizability of the predictive model of ischemic cardiovascular diseases in Chinese / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the applicability of developed prediction models of ischemic cardiovascular diseases (ICVD) in Chinese to other Chinese populations.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>We used the independent prospective cohort established in early 1990's from China Multi-Center Collaborative Study of Cardiovascular Epidemiology (MUCA), as the validation cohort, to test the hypothesis. The area under ROC curve (AUC) based on the application of the Cox optimal model and the simplified model to the validation cohort were calculated and to test the ability of the prediction models to discriminate events from nonevents. Applicability was evaluated by comparing the mean probability estimates in each decile of probability in the validation cohort with the observed incidence with the Hosmer-Lemeshow test.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The validation cohort enrolled a total of 17 329 men and women aged 35 to 59 years baseline 1992 - 1994. In this paper, we used data from the remaining 15 100 participants after excluding 2229 subjects for at missing value of risk factors. During 11-year follow up of the cohort, there were 347 ICVD events (206 for men and 141 for women), including 83 coronary heart disease events (56 men and 27 women) and 268 ischemic strokes (154 men and 114 women). ROC curves for men and women showed good and almost identical discrimination for optimal model (the AUCs (95% CI) were 0.796 (0.762 - 0.829) for men and 0.791 (0.755 - 0.828) for women), simplified model (the AUCs (95% CI) were 0.792 (0.758 - 0.825) for men and 0.783 (0.746 - 0.821) for women) and score system (the AUCs (95% CI) were 0.791 (0.757 - 0.825) for men and 0.779 (0.741 - 0.817) for women) in the validation cohort. The predicted 10-year risk of ICVD by optimal models and observed incidence of ICVD in the validation cohort in each decile were compared. Hosmer-Lemeshow chi2 was 3.7 for men (P = 0.879) and 27.7 for women (P < 0.001). Whereas the largest difference between the observed rate and the predicted rate was only 1%.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The prediction models for estimating 10-year risk of ICVD had satisfied predictive capability when they were applied to the validation cohort and are applicable to other Chinese populations.</p>

[A cohort study on parental history of hypertension and the risk of cardiovascular disease in Chinese population].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between parental history of hypertension and the incidence of cardiovascular disease in Chinese populations. METHODS: A total of 15 131 individuals (7015 men and 8116 women, aged from 35 to 59 years) in China were enrolled and followed up from 1992 to 2005. The information on the parental history of hypertension of the participants was collected. The individuals were divided into three groups according to their parental history of hypertension: those without parental history of hypertension (group 1), those with one parent history of hypertension (group 2) and those with both parents history of hypertension (group 3). The hazard ratio and its 95% confidence interval were calculated using the Cox proportional hazard model. RESULTS: There were 448 cardiovascular events (including 82 cardiac events and 370 stroke events and 4 with both cardiac and stroke events) during the 163 858 person-years of observation. After adjusting for age, smoking and drinking, the hazard ratio for cardiovascular disease for group 1, group 2 and group 3 were 1.00, 1.34 (1.01 - 1.78), 2.58 (1.62 - 4.11) in men respectively and 1.00, 1.77 (1.27 - 2.45), 2.55 (1.44 - 4.54) in women respectively. After further adjusting for serum total cholesterol (TC), high density lipid cholesterol (HDL-C), fasting glucose, body mass index (BMI) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) in the model, the hazard ratio for cardiovascular disease for those three groups were 1.00, 1.01 (0.76 - 1.35), 1.72 (1.07 - 2.75) in men respectively and 1.00, 1.31 (0.94 - 1.84), 1.76 (0.98 - 3.15) in women respectively. CONCLUSION: The individuals with parental history of hypertension have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, especially for those with both parents history of hypertension.

[Study on the baseline physical activity and the risk of ischemic cardiovascular diseases].

OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations between physical activity measures [metabolic equivalents of energy expenditure (MET) per hour per day] and ischemic cardiovascular diseases (ICVD) in Chinese population. METHODS: A survey on cardiovascular risk factors was conducted in different areas of China in fall 1998. People aged 35 to 59 but without a history of coronary heart and stroke at baseline were prospectively followed and 11 849 subjects whose information were complete at the end of second follow-up were valid. Cox regression was used to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) for incident ischemic cardiovascular diseases and the different measures of physical activity. RESULTS: During a mean follow-up period of 5.9 years, 84 incident ischemic cardiovascular events were ascertained. We examined the HRs of ischemic cardiovascular events for a 1-unit change in METs value, which were included in the models as continuous variable. There were negative association of METs values found with ischemic cardiovascular events in total, urban, rural, male and female subjects, and statistical significance in the urban (HRs = 0.22, 95% CI: 0.05-0.95) but the association was weakened after adjustment for demographic factors. When further adjustment for other intermediate factors, the significance in the urban was again attenuated. When the urban males and females, rural males and females were divided into 3 groups according to their respective tertiles and the combination of different population groups, the factors of male/female and urban/ rural were equally distributed in different groups, and no more adjustment in the Cox model. The multivariate - adjusted (age and education attainment) HRs associated with the tertiles, from lowest to highest, were: 1, 1.03 and 0.65 (P(trend) = 0.170) for the total, 1, 0.72 and 0.64 for the urban, 1, 1.49 and 0.72 for the rural, 1, 1.05 and 0.59 for men, 1, 0.90 and 0.84 for women. CONCLUSION: The totality of our findings pointed to METs per hour per day seemed to be weakly associated with a reduction in ischemic cardiovascular events incidence among urban middle-aged adults.

Study on the baseline physical activity and the risk of ischemic cardiovascular diseases / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To examine the associations between physical activity measures [metabolic equivalents of energy expenditure (MET) per hour per day] and ischemic cardiovascular diseases (ICVD) in Chinese population.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A survey on cardiovascular risk factors was conducted in different areas of China in fall 1998. People aged 35 to 59 but without a history of coronary heart and stroke at baseline were prospectively followed and 11 849 subjects whose information were complete at the end of second follow-up were valid. Cox regression was used to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) for incident ischemic cardiovascular diseases and the different measures of physical activity.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>During a mean follow-up period of 5.9 years, 84 incident ischemic cardiovascular events were ascertained. We examined the HRs of ischemic cardiovascular events for a 1-unit change in METs value, which were included in the models as continuous variable. There were negative association of METs values found with ischemic cardiovascular events in total, urban, rural, male and female subjects, and statistical significance in the urban (HRs = 0.22, 95% CI: 0.05-0.95) but the association was weakened after adjustment for demographic factors. When further adjustment for other intermediate factors, the significance in the urban was again attenuated. When the urban males and females, rural males and females were divided into 3 groups according to their respective tertiles and the combination of different population groups, the factors of male/female and urban/ rural were equally distributed in different groups, and no more adjustment in the Cox model. The multivariate - adjusted (age and education attainment) HRs associated with the tertiles, from lowest to highest, were: 1, 1.03 and 0.65 (P(trend) = 0.170) for the total, 1, 0.72 and 0.64 for the urban, 1, 1.49 and 0.72 for the rural, 1, 1.05 and 0.59 for men, 1, 0.90 and 0.84 for women.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The totality of our findings pointed to METs per hour per day seemed to be weakly associated with a reduction in ischemic cardiovascular events incidence among urban middle-aged adults.</p>

A cohort study on parental history of hypertension and the risk of cardiovascular disease in Chinese population / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the relationship between parental history of hypertension and the incidence of cardiovascular disease in Chinese populations.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 15 131 individuals (7015 men and 8116 women, aged from 35 to 59 years) in China were enrolled and followed up from 1992 to 2005. The information on the parental history of hypertension of the participants was collected. The individuals were divided into three groups according to their parental history of hypertension: those without parental history of hypertension (group 1), those with one parent history of hypertension (group 2) and those with both parents history of hypertension (group 3). The hazard ratio and its 95% confidence interval were calculated using the Cox proportional hazard model.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There were 448 cardiovascular events (including 82 cardiac events and 370 stroke events and 4 with both cardiac and stroke events) during the 163 858 person-years of observation. After adjusting for age, smoking and drinking, the hazard ratio for cardiovascular disease for group 1, group 2 and group 3 were 1.00, 1.34 (1.01 - 1.78), 2.58 (1.62 - 4.11) in men respectively and 1.00, 1.77 (1.27 - 2.45), 2.55 (1.44 - 4.54) in women respectively. After further adjusting for serum total cholesterol (TC), high density lipid cholesterol (HDL-C), fasting glucose, body mass index (BMI) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) in the model, the hazard ratio for cardiovascular disease for those three groups were 1.00, 1.01 (0.76 - 1.35), 1.72 (1.07 - 2.75) in men respectively and 1.00, 1.31 (0.94 - 1.84), 1.76 (0.98 - 3.15) in women respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The individuals with parental history of hypertension have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, especially for those with both parents history of hypertension.</p>

[A cohort study on the relationship between nutrients intake and the incidence of hypertension in middle-aged Chinese].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between nutrient intake and the incidence of hypertension in middle-aged Chinese. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted in 653 men and women of Beijing and Guanzhou, aged 35-59 years. The subjects had no hypertension or other cardiovascular diseases at baseline risk factor and dietary survey carried out in 1983-1984. The baseline information of nutrient intake was collected by using a 24-hour recall method on three consecutive days. The incidence of hypertension was determined through the follow-up survey in 1993-1994. The subjects were categorized into three groups according to tritiles of each baseline nutrient intake and the relative risk for hypertension incidence in each group was calculated by using the logistic regression model with the group of lowest risk as the referent. RESULTS: During the period of 1983-1984 to 1993-1994, 170 among 653 subjects had developed hypertension; 92 were men and 78 were women. After adjustment for other risk factors, the relative risk of hypertension for different protein intake groups was 1.0, 0.87 (95% CI 0.54-1.40) and 0.52 (95% CI 0.32-0.87), respectively, and the p value for trend analysis was 0.011; the relative risk of hypertension for different sodium intake groups was 1.0, 1.12 (95% CI 0.66-1.88) and 1.85 (95% CI 1.09-3.14), respectively, and the p value for trend analysis was 0.015. There was no significant relationship between the other nutrient intake and hypertension incidence. CONCLUSION: Among middle-aged Chinese, protein and sodium may be two of the most important dietary factors affecting the incidence of hypertension. Increasing protein intake and reducing sodium intake might be helpful for the prevention of hypertension.

[The cut-off point of waist circumference for identifying metabolic syndrome in Chinese adults].

OBJECTIVE: Metabolic syndrome has attracted more attention from scientists of related areas due to its association with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The clinical identification criteria for metabolic syndrome issued by ATP III of NECP indicate the enlarged waist as the first component using the cut-offs derived from Caucasians. The purpose of this study is to investigate the appropriate cut-offs of waist circumference for Chinese adults as a component of metabolic syndrome. METHODS: Database of 13732 Chinese adults with 35 - 59 years from the risk factor survey in 1998 (the 9(th) Five Year National Project on trends and prediction of cardiovascular disease) was used to analyze the ORs of clustering of risk components by different strata of waist circumference. The sensitivity, specificity and distance in ROC curve by different cut-offs of waist circumference for identifying two or more risk components of metabolic syndrome were estimated to find the cut-off point for men and women with the shortest distance in ROC curve. RESULTS: The ORs of clustering of risk components increased significantly with the size of waist circumference. The waist circumference (>/= 85 cm for men, >/= 80 cm for women) corresponded to the shortest distance in ROC curve, namely, at these cut-offs, the rates of false positive and false negative for identifying clustering of two or more risk components were the minimum. CONCLUSIONS: If a person had three or more of the following components, metabolic syndrome could be defined: waist circumference >/= 85 cm in men or >/= 80 cm in women, SBP >/= 130 mm Hg or DBP >/= 85 mm Hg, TG >/= 1.69 mmol/L, HDL-C < 1.03 mmol/L and fasting blood glucose >/= 6.1 mmol/L. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 19.3% and 13.9% in middle-aged men and women respectively. In these patients the combination of enlarged waist, high blood pressure and high TG was the most frequent. This recommendation need further confirmed in representative sample of Chinese population.

[Dietary treatment and success rate of control in hypercholesterolemia patients treated with lipid lowering drugs: a multi-center study of current status on clinical control of hypercholesterolemia in China].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the current status in dietary treatment of hypercholesterolemia and its effects on control of this disease in China. METHODS: Twenty five Tertiary-A hospitals from 12 provinces in China were selected, in which 2136 patients were recruited who had had hypercholesterolemia and had been receiving lipid lowering treatment for at least 2 months. Serum lipids level was determined for each patient at the time of enrollment, and using a simplified food frequency method carried out dietary intake survey. Patients who take meat of less than 75 g per day and eggs of less than 5 per week, and fried foods of less than 5 times per week, and butter cakes and pastry of less than 5 times per week were considered as having their diet controlled. RESULTS: Among 1746 responded patients, 68.3% reported having controlled diet. Among those reported "controlled", 75% had a diet meeting the requirements suggested by the Chinese Recommendations on Prevention and Treatment of Hypercholesterolemia (CRPTH). The percentage of patients having their serum total cholesterol under control in diet controlled group, according to the CRPTH, was significantly higher than that in diet uncontrolled group (28.8% vs 13.6%, P < 0.01). After adjustment for drug treatment and other covariates, the diet controlled group showed a significantly higher rate in control of hypercholesterolemia than the diet uncontrolled group (OR = 2.7, 95% CI: 1.4 approximately 5.2). CONCLUSION: Diet control significantly improves the status in control of hypercholesterolemia and thus should be reinforced in routine clinical practice.

[The current status on the prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of diabetes mellitus in several Chinese subpopulations].

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of impaired fasting glucose (IFG), diabetes mellitus(DM), rates of awareness, treatment and control of DM in 14 Chinese subpopulations and the trends of development in recent years. METHODS: We collected data on history regarding DM and fasting serum glucose in 14 Chinese subpopulations aged 35 to 59 in 1998, under cluster sampling. In 4 out of the 14 subpopulation samples, a similar survey using same methods in 1993 - 1994 was carried out. IFG and DM were diagnosed according to the WHO criteria. RESULTS: The age-standardized prevalence rates of IFG and DM were from 0.5% to 15.6% (mean: 4.8%) and from 0.2% to 10.6% (mean: 4.3%) for the whole 14 subpopulations in 1998 which were not different between men and women, but higher in urban than in rural (P < 0.01), but increased with age (P < 0.01). The rates of awareness,treatment and control of DM were from 0% to 46.2% (mean: 33.3%), from 0% to 46.2% (mean: 27.2%), and from 0% to 15.4% (mean: 9.7%), which were significantly higher in women than in men (P < 0.01), higher in urban than in rural (P = 0.031), and higher in older participants (P < 0.05), but not much different in the levels of education. The rate of treatment in patients with awareness of DM and the rate of control in patients with treated DM were 81.6% and 35.6% respectively, which were not different between men and women, urban and rural or among different age groups. The mean prevalence of DM increased from 3.8% in 1993 - 1994 to 4.6% in 1998 (P = 0.037). The rates of awareness, treatment and control of DM had an increasing trends but with no significant differences between years 1993 - 1994 and 1998. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of DM in 14 Chinese subpopulations exhibited no differences between men and women, but showing significant differences among areas and an increasing trend in the recent years. The rates of awareness, treatment, and control were still relatively low. To improve the efficacy of screening program and treatment seemed to be the two key issues in prevention and control of DM in China.

[The development and Assessment on the general quality of life intrument for Chinese people].

OBJECTIVE: To develop a general quality of life (QOL) instrument for Chinese in accordance with the Chinese culture and to assess its reliability, validity and sensitivity. METHODS: A 35-item QOL questionnaire(QOL-35) was developed with reference to the World Health Organization QOL questionnaire(WHO-100) and the 36-item medical outcomes study on short-form health status(SF-36). Thirty five items were divided into six domains (general, physical, independent, psychological, social, environment) and one item on QOL transition. The reliability of QOL-35 was assessed by a test-retest survey among 127 adults with an interval of 24-72 hours. The internal consistency and validity were evaluated by a survey on 135 adults from outpatients or general population, using QOL-35, WHO-100 and SF-36. The adaptability was assessed by application to 1356 community-based samples in Beijing. RESULTS: (1)Test-retest reliability of QOL-35: weighted Kappa indexes for items were from 0.86 to 1.00. Intraclass correlation coefficients were from 0.68 to 0.94 for domains, and 0.94 for total score. (2) On internal consistency: Cronbach's Alphas were 0.93, 0.97 and 0.89 for QO1-35, WHO-100 and SF-36. (3)On construct validity. The accumulated proportions of variances of the preceding seven factors were 66.5%, 50.3% and 65.3% for QOL-35, WHO-100 and SF-36. (4) On criterion validity. Spearman correlation coefficients of total QOL score of QOL-35 with those of WHO-100 and SF-36 were 0.805 and 0.745. (5)The rates of chronic diseases were 53.1%, 33.1%, 26.4% and 25.1% from first to fourth quantile of the total QOL scores of QOL-35(P<0.05). (6)Cronbach's Alpha was from 0.68 to 0.93 in 135 subjects, and from 0.71 to 0.91 in 1356 individuals of natural population. CONCLUSION: The QOL-35 instrument satisfied test-retest reliability and was highly correlated with WHO-100 and SF-36, having fewer items but better construction validity, better internal consistency, and better discrimination ability. We suggested that QOL-35 be used as a replicable tool to assess quality of life in the Chinese general population.

p38 Mitogen-activated protein kinase mediates hypoxia-induced vascular endothelial growth factor release in human endothelial cells / 生理学报

Increased vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) biosynthesis in vascular endothelial cells has been reported to play an obligatory role in promoting angiogenesis. Nevertheless, the intracellular signaling mechanisms of hypoxia-induced VEGF release remain largely unknown. Human umbilical vein endothelial cell lines (ECV304) were cultured in normoxic or hypoxic conditions for 12 approximately 24 h and harvested for determination of VEGF mRNA expression and phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot analysis, respectively. Secreted VEGF protein was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). It has reported that PD98059, an ERK inhibitor, was able to blunt the hypoxia-induced activation of the expression of VEGF gene. In accordance with this report, an increase in ERK1/2 phosphorylation and VEGF biosynthesis was observed in ECV304 cells cultured in hypoxia, and this increase was blocked by PD98059. The novel finding of the present study is that an activation of p38 MAPK is involved in hypoxia-induced increase in VEGF biosynthesis. SB202190, an inhibitor of p38 MAPK was able to blunt the hypoxia-induced increase in VEGF biosynthesis. These dada provide the first direct evidence for a role of p38 MAPK in mediating hypoxia-induced increase in VEGF biosynthesis in human endothelial cells.

Dietary treatment and success rate of control in hypercholesterolemia patients treated with lipid lowering drugs: a multi-center study of current status on clinical control of hypercholesterolemia in China / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the current status in dietary treatment of hypercholesterolemia and its effects on control of this disease in China.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twenty five Tertiary-A hospitals from 12 provinces in China were selected, in which 2136 patients were recruited who had had hypercholesterolemia and had been receiving lipid lowering treatment for at least 2 months. Serum lipids level was determined for each patient at the time of enrollment, and using a simplified food frequency method carried out dietary intake survey. Patients who take meat of less than 75 g per day and eggs of less than 5 per week, and fried foods of less than 5 times per week, and butter cakes and pastry of less than 5 times per week were considered as having their diet controlled.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Among 1746 responded patients, 68.3% reported having controlled diet. Among those reported "controlled", 75% had a diet meeting the requirements suggested by the Chinese Recommendations on Prevention and Treatment of Hypercholesterolemia (CRPTH). The percentage of patients having their serum total cholesterol under control in diet controlled group, according to the CRPTH, was significantly higher than that in diet uncontrolled group (28.8% vs 13.6%, P < 0.01). After adjustment for drug treatment and other covariates, the diet controlled group showed a significantly higher rate in control of hypercholesterolemia than the diet uncontrolled group (OR = 2.7, 95% CI: 1.4 approximately 5.2).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Diet control significantly improves the status in control of hypercholesterolemia and thus should be reinforced in routine clinical practice.</p>