Relationship between self-reported occupational noise exposure and expression levels of plasma inflammatory cytokines in adult asthmatic patients / 公共卫生与预防医学

Objectives To investigate the relationship between self-reported occupational noise exposure and levels of plasma inflammatory cytokines in asthmatic patients. Methods A total of 910 adult asthmatic patients were selected as the study subjects, and their occupational noise exposure history and other related information were collected. The peripheral blood samples were collected from the patients, and the expression levels of plasma soluble CD14 (sCD14), complement factor D (CFD), Eotaxin-11 (CCL11), and IL-9 were determined. The relationship between self-reported occupational noise exposure and the expression levels of the four inflammatory cytokines in patients’ plasma were analyzed using multiple linear regression models. The interactions between confounding factors and self-reported occupational noise exposure were further analyzed by interaction analysis. Results The plasma CCL11, sCD14 and CFD expressions in asthmatic patients with self-reported occupational noise exposure were significantly higher than those in patients without the exposure (P<0.05). After adjusting for confounding factors, compared with patients reporting no occupational noise exposure, the plasma CFD expression was increased by 0.17 (95% CI: 0.02, 0.31) natural logarithm units in patients with self-reported occupational noise exposure. During remission, the levels of plasma CCL11 and sCD14 in asthmatic patients with self-reported occupational noise exposure were increased by 0.27 (95% CI: 0.05, 0.49) and 0.22 (95% CI: 0.02, 0.41) natural logarithm units, respectively, when compared with patients without the exposure. Interaction analysis showed that self-reported occupational noise exposure had significant multiplicative interaction with smoking or pet ownership on plasma CCL11 or CFD expressions in asthmatic patients (all P<0.05). Conclusion Self-reported occupational noise exposure is significantly associated with increased expression levels of plasma CFD, CCL11, and sCD14 in adult asthmatic patients.

Characterization of SHATTERPROOF Homoeologs and CRISPR-Cas9-Mediated Genome Editing Enhances Pod-Shattering Resistance in Brassica napus L.

Brassica napus is the most important oil crop plant for edible oil and renewable energy source worldwide. Yield loss caused by pod shattering is a main problem during B. napus harvest. In this study, six BnSHP1 and two BnSHP2 homoeologs were targeted by the CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-Cas9 (CRISPR-associated protein 9) genome editing system and multiple SHP1 and SHP2 mutated lines were identified for evaluating the contribution for pod-shattering resistance. Our data suggest that BnSHP1A09 is probably a promising homoeolog for controlling lignin contents at dehiscence zone. Simultaneous mutation of BnSHP1A09/C04-B/A04 and BnSHP2A05/C04-A exhibited reduced lignified layer and separation layer adjacent to valves and replum. The pod-shattering resistance index (SRI) subsequently increased to 0.31 in five homoeolog mutation lines compared with the wild type (SRI = 0.036), which provide the theoretical basis for breeding of commercial pod-shattering resistance variety.