Vortex sorting of rare particles/cells in microcavities: A review.

Microfluidics or lab-on-a-chip technology has shown great potential for the separation of target particles/cells from heterogeneous solutions. Among current separation methods, vortex sorting of particles/cells in microcavities is a highly effective method for trapping and isolating rare target cells, such as circulating tumor cells, from flowing samples. By utilizing fluid forces and inertial particle effects, this passive method offers advantages such as label-free operation, high throughput, and high concentration. This paper reviews the fundamental research on the mechanisms of focusing, trapping, and holding of particles in this method, designs of novel microcavities, as well as its applications. We also summarize the challenges and prospects of this technique with the hope to promote its applications in medical and biological research.

Antibiotic resistance genes in integrated surface ice, cryoconite, and glacier-fed stream in a mountain glacier in Central Asia.

Glacier ice, cryoconite, and glacier-fed streams are interconnected features that have important implications for the dynamics and distribution of abiotic and biotic materials. However, the presence and behavior of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) within these glacial environments remained largely unexplored. Addressing this gap, we hypothesized that ARGs are widely distributed and exhibit distinct yet interconnected patterns of diversity and dynamics in these glacial environments. Here, we investigated ARGs in a mountain glacier in Central Asia. A total of 944 ARGs, spanning 22 antibiotic classes, were identified, with 633 ARGs shared across all three environments. Cryoconite exhibited the highest ARG richness, followed by ice, while stream biofilm displayed the lowest value. Exploring ARG profiles, we observed a consistent pattern in terms of antibiotic class and resistance mechanism across all three environments. Beta-lactam resistance genes exhibited the highest diversity, followed by multidrug, glycopeptide, and MLS. The predominant mechanisms were antibiotic inactivation, antibiotic efflux, and target alteration. The most prevalent ARG is cls, followed by mdfA, ropB, fabI, and macB. The similarity in ARG profiles between surface ice and cryoconite samples was more pronounced than their resemblance to stream biofilm samples. The variations of ARG profiles between any pair of environments were largely contributed by turnover component. Further insights into microbial interactions revealed 2328 significant associations between 80 OTUs and 356 ARGs, indicating complex relationships. Certain OTUs, including those from the genera Polaromonas, Ferruginibacter, Hymenobacter, Phormidesmis, Novosphingobium, and Polymorphobacter, were speculated as potential hosts for a variety of ARGs. Our findings underscore the intricate dynamics of antibiotic resistance in glacial ecosystems, emphasizing the need for a holistic understanding of ARG distribution, diversity, and associations across diverse environmental compartments. This research contributes valuable insights into the potential ecological implications of antibiotic resistance dissemination in cold environments, particularly as influenced by increasing climate change.

[Bacterial Community and Diversity of River Ecosystems on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Based on 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing].

In recent years, the ecosystems on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) have been facing a high risk of degradation due to the impacts of climate change and human activities. As one of the important components in river ecosystems, microbial communities can reflect the overall changes in the watershed and are regarded as indicators of the health of river ecosystems. In order to investigate the diversity and composition characteristics of bacterial communities in river ecosystems on the QTP, 65 samples were collected from the Yellow River, Yangtze River, Lancang River, Nujiang River, Yarlung Tsangpo River, and Qaidam Basin on the QTP in July 2021 and were analyzed using 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing. The results showed that the detected bacterial communities covered 65 phyla and 1311 genera in total. Bacterial communities had high α-diversity indexes across the rivers, indicating that the bacterial richness and diversity in rivers on the QTP were at a high level. Among them, Chao and observed OTUs had significantly negative relationships with SRP/TP. The dominant phyla were Proteobacteria, Bacteroidota, Actinobacteriota, and Cyanobacteria. The dominant classes were γ-proteobacteria, Bacteroidia, and α-proteobacteria. The dominant genera were Flavobacterium and Limnohabitans. The results of principal coordinate analysis and permutational MANOVA suggested significant differences in bacterial community structure among the rivers on the QTP. Canonical correspondence analysis showed that the significant environmental variables associated with the variation in the bacterial communities were physicochemical properties of the river water, including conductivity, pH, dissolved silicon, and dissolved organic carbon, as well as watershed characteristics, including the average normalized differential vegetation index, average slope, cumulative water channel distance, catchment size, proportion of shrub area, and average elevation. Among them, conductivity had the strongest influence on bacteria distribution on the QTP. These results provide a database and information for understanding the composition characteristics of microbial communities on the QTP and identifying environmental factors influencing the diversity of bacteria communities.

Morphological wave attenuation of the nature-based flood defense: A case study from Chongming Dongtan Shoal, China.

The risk of coastal storm flooding is deteriorating under global warming, especially for the heavily urbanized deltaic cities, like Shanghai. The Nature-Based Flood Defense (NBFD), as an eco-friendly design alternative for hard infrastructure against coastal flooding, is gaining attention. Nevertheless, the vulnerability of saltmarsh due to the biological instability, resulting in the uncertainties on coastal protection, is considered the bottleneck challenge that hinders the broad application of the NBFD concept. We argue that except for direct wave attenuations by the above-ground vegetation during storms, the gradual sediment trapping and consolidating during the non-storm period is a more crucial function of coastal saltmarsh, which mitigates storm waves by forming a broader and higher intertidal morphology. This benefit is an important value of saltmarsh-based coastal protection but is largely neglected in many NBFD studies. Taking Chongming Dongtan Shoal (CDS) as a case study, we demonstrated that over 2/3th wave attenuation during storms is contributed by the saltmarsh morphology, and less than 1/3th is from the saltmarsh vegetation. The relative contribution of the saltmarsh morphology on wave mitigation is even enhanced under the increasing storm grades from 100 yrs. to 5000 yrs. return levels. To promote this idea for broader application, the cost-benefit analysis of three artificial NBFD solutions (e.g., submerged breakwater, timber piles, and sand nourishment) are compared. We identified an optimal measure of the submerged breakwater for CDS, which minimizes the ecological impact and maximizes the cost-benefit. Moreover, the wave-free zone behind the breakwater increases the chance of vegetation establishment, helps suspended sediment trapping, hence fostering a beneficent cycle for saltmarsh restoration. In summary, ignoring the contribution of saltmarsh morphology on wave attenuation largely underestimated the benefits of vegetation-based coastal protection, which should be greatly emphasized to provide a solid basis for developing NBFD.

Bacterial communities in surface and basal ice of a glacier terminus in the headwaters of Yangtze River on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

BACKGROUND: On the front lines of climate change, glacier termini play crucial roles in linking glaciers and downstream ecosystems during glacier retreat. However, we lack a clear understanding of biological processes that occur in surface and basal ice at glacier termini. METHODS: Here, we studied the bacterial communities in surface ice and basal ice (the bottom layer) of a glacier terminus in the Yangtze River Source, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. RESULTS: Surface and basal ice harbored distinct bacterial communities but shared some core taxa. Surface ice communities had a higher α-diversity than those in basal ice and were dominated by Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, and Cyanobacteria while basal ice was dominated by Firmicutes and Proteobacteria. The bacterial communities were also substantially different in functional potential. Genes associated with functional categories of cellular processes and metabolism were significantly enriched in surface ice, while genes connected to environmental information processing were enriched in basal ice. In terms of biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur, bacterial communities in surface ice were enriched for genes connected to aerobic carbon fixation, aerobic respiration, denitrification, nitrogen assimilation, nitrogen mineralization, sulfur mineralization, alkaline phosphatase, and polyphosphate kinase. In contrast, bacterial communities in basal ice were enriched for genes involved in anaerobic carbon fixation, fermentation, nitrate reduction, 2-aminoethylphosphonic acid pathway, G3P transporter, glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase, and exopolyphosphatase. Structural equation modeling showed that total nitrogen and environmental carbon:phosphorus were positively while environmental nitrogen:phosphorus was negatively associated with taxonomic ß-diversity which itself was strongly associated with functional ß-diversity of bacterial communities. CONCLUSIONS: This study furthers our understanding of biogeochemical cycling of the mountain cryosphere by revealing the genetic potential of the bacterial communities in surface and basal ice at the glacier terminus, providing new insights into glacial ecology as well as the influences of glacier retreat on downstream systems.

Abundant and rare soil fungi exhibit distinct succession patterns in the forefield of Dongkemadi glacier on the central Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Glaciers are retreating rapidly, exposing extensive new soil habitats in glacier forefields and providing unique areas for studying primary succession. However, understanding the variation patterns and assembly mechanisms of abundant and rare fungi subcommunities along the glacier-retreating chronosequence remains a knowledge gap, especially true for the vast Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). Here, we investigated fungal communities in the glacier forefield in Dongkemadi Glaicer on the central QTP. The results showed that fungal alpha diversity exhibited a clear increasing pattern in response to increasing of distance to glacier. The percentage of abundant OTUs decreased while the percentage of rare OTUs increased, suggesting that soil development is more beneficial to the rare taxa. The distributions of both abundant and rare subcommunities exhibited a clear spatial pattern along the distance to glacier, and might be strongly controlled by multiple environmental variables, including pH, soil moisture, vegetation status, soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, and soluble reactive phosphorus. Abundant and rare fungal subcommunities were structured in different assembly regimes. Dispersal limitation processes were dominant for both abundant and rare subcommunities but with a stronger contribution to abundant subcommunity assembly. Heterogeneous selection processes contributed higher and non-dominant processes contributed lower to abundant subcommunities than to rare subcommunities. The modular structure of the fungal co-occurrence network was highly localized along the soil chronosequence. By revealing distinct diversity patterns and community assembly mechanisms of abundant and rare fungal subcommunities, our study improved our understanding of ecological succession along the glacier-retreating chronosequence.

Assessing glacier retreat and its impact on water resources in a headwater of Yangtze River based on CMIP6 projections.

Glacier retreat caused by global warming alters the hydrological regime and poses far-reaching challenges to water resources and nature conservation of the headwater of Yangtze River, and its vast downstream regions with dense population. However, there is still lack of a robust modeling framework of the "climate-glacier-streamflow" in this water tower region, to project the future changes of glacier mass balance, glacier geometry, and the consequent impacts on runoff. Moreover, it is imperative to use the state-of-the-art sixth phase Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) to assess glacio-hydrology variations in future. In this study, we coupled a glacio-hydrological model (FLEXG) with a glacier retreat method (Δh-parameterization) to simulate glacio-hydrological processes in the Dongkemadi Glacier (over 5155 m.a.s.l), which has the longest continuous glacio-hydrology observation on the headwater of Yangtze River. The FLEXG-Δh model was forced with in-situ observed meteorological data, radar ice thickness, remote sensing topography and land cover data, and validated by measured runoff. The results showed that the model was capable to simulate hydrological processes in this glacierized basin, with Kling-Gupta efficiency (IKGE) of daily runoff simulation 0.88 in calibration and 0.70 in validation. Then, forcing by the bias-corrected meteorological forcing from the eight latest CMIP6 Earth system models under two climate scenarios (RCP2.6 and RCP8.5), we assessed the impact of future climate change on glacier response and its hydrological effects. The results showed that, to the end of simulation in 2100, the volume of the Dongkemadi Glacier would continuously retreat. For the RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 scenarios, the glacier volume will decrease by 8.7 × 108 m3 (74%) and 10.8 × 108 m3 (92%) respectively in 2100. The glacier runoff will increase and reach to peak water around 2060 to 2085, after this tipping point water resources will likely decrease.

Ecological networks reveal contrasting patterns of bacterial and fungal communities in glacier-fed streams in Central Asia.

Bacterial and fungal communities in biofilms are important components in driving biogeochemical processes in stream ecosystems. Previous studies have well documented the patterns of bacterial alpha diversity in stream biofilms in glacier-fed streams, where, however, beta diversity of the microbial communities has received much less attention especially considering both bacterial and fungal communities. A focus on beta diversity can provide insights into the mechanisms driving community changes associated to large environmental fluctuations and disturbances, such as in glacier-fed streams. Moreover, modularity of co-occurrence networks can reveal more ecological and evolutionary properties of microbial communities beyond taxonomic groups. Here, integrating beta diversity and co-occurrence approach, we explored the network topology and modularity of the bacterial and fungal communities with consideration of environmental variation in glacier-fed streams in Central Asia. Combining results from hydrological modeling and normalized difference of vegetation index, this study highlighted that hydrological variables and vegetation status are major variables determining the environmental heterogeneity of glacier-fed streams. Bacterial communities formed a more complex and connected network, while the fungal communities formed a more clustered network. Moreover, the strong interrelations among the taxonomic dissimilarities of bacterial community (BC) and modules suggest they had common processes in driving diversity and taxonomic compositions across the heterogeneous environment. In contrast, fungal community (FC) and modules generally showed distinct driving processes to each other. Moreover, bacterial and fungal communities also had different driving processes. Furthermore, the variation of BC and modules were strongly correlated with hydrological properties and vegetation status but not with nutrients, while FC and modules (except one module) were not associated with environmental variation. Our results suggest that bacterial and fungal communities had distinct mechanisms in structuring microbial networks, and environmental variation had strong influences on bacterial communities but not on fungal communities. The fungal communities have unique assembly mechanisms and physiological properties which might lead to their insensitive responses to environmental variations compared to bacterial communities. Overall, beyond alpha diversity in previous studies, these results add our knowledge that bacterial and fungal communities have contrasting assembly mechanisms and respond differently to environmental variation in glacier-fed streams.

Gray matter reduction related to decreased serum creatinine and increased triglyceride, Hemoglobin A1C, and low-density lipoprotein in subjects with obesity.

PURPOSE: Altered brain volume and metabolic variables have been found in subjects with obesity. However, the role of metabolic parameters in gray matter volume (GMV) has been poorly investigated. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the metabolic parameters and brain volume in subjects with obesity. METHODS: Thirty-seven subjects with obesity and 39 age and sex matched normal-weight controls were included in this study. Eighteen of the 37 participants who underwent sleeve gastrectomy were included in the longitudinal analysis. Blood samples and high-resolution 3T T1-weighted magnetic resonance images were collected. Metabolic parameters in plasma and GMV were measured. RESULTS: Multiple linear regression analysis showed that gray matter reduction in several cognition-related cortices including right angular gyrus, superior occipital cortex, superior parietal cortex, and cerebellum was related to decreased creatinine, as well as increased triglyceride, HbA1c, and low-density lipoprotein in plasma in subjects with obesity. Weight loss after the surgery induced significant recovery of altered metabolic parameters and decreased gray matter volume. Furthermore, changes in the four metabolic parameters before and after the surgery were associated with changes in gray matter volume. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the gray matter reduction is related to decreased creatinine as well as increased triglyceride, HbA1c, and low-density lipoprotein in plasma in subjects with obesity.

Sleeve Gastrectomy Rescuing the Altered Functional Connectivity of Lateral but Not Medial Hypothalamus in Subjects with Obesity.

BACKGROUND: Lateral and medial hypothalamus (LH and MH) play important roles in energy balance. Changed hypothalamic function has been found in subjects with obesity. However, the effect of bariatric surgery on the function of the two sub-regions has been poorly investigated. METHODS: Thirty-eight subjects with obesity and 34 age- and sex-matched normal-weight controls were included. Seventeen of the 38 subjects underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data and metabolic parameters were collected to investigate functional connectivity networks of the two hypothalamic sub-regions as well as the influence of sleeve gastrectomy on the two networks in subjects with obesity. RESULTS: Compared to normal-weight controls, pre-surgical subjects had increased functional connectivity (FC) in the reward region (putamen) within the LH network, and increased FC in somatosensory cortical area (insula), as well as decreased FC in the cognitive control regions (prefrontal regions) within the MH network. After the surgery, post-surgical FC of the putamen within the LH network changed towards the patterns found in the control group. Furthermore, the changes in fasting glucose before and after the surgery were associated with the changes in FC of the putamen within the LH network. CONCLUSIONS: The FC within the LH and MH networks were changed in subjects with obesity. Part of these altered FC was rescued after the surgery.

Food Patterns are Associated with Likelihood of CKD in US Adults.

We investigated the association between dietary patterns and prevalent chronic kidney diseases (CKD), in participants of the 2005-2012 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) conducted between 2005 and 2012, who had measured data on dietary intake and kidney function. Analyse of covariance (ANCOVA) and logistic regression models were employed to account for the survey design and sample weights. A total of 21,649 eligible participants (634 with and 20,015 without prevalent CKD) were included in the final analysis. Three food patterns together explained 50.8% of the variance of the dietary nutrients consumption. The first food pattern was representative of a diet containing high levels of saturated and mono-unsaturated fatty acids; the second food pattern comprised vitamins and trace elements; and the third food pattern was mainly representative of polyunsaturated fatty acids. The odd of prevalent CKD decreased across increasing quarters of vitamins and trace elements, so that the top quarter was associated with a 53% (95%CI: 42-62%) lower odds of CKD in age, sex and race adjusted logistic regression models. These results suggest that vitamins and trace elements intake are associated with lower risk of prevalent CKD.

Lipid accumulation product and visceral adiposity index are associated with dietary patterns in adult Americans.

In the present study, we aimed to examine the association between lipid accumulation product (LAP) and visceral adiposity index (VAI) with dietary pattern (DP) in the US adults. Participants of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) with data available on dietary intake from 2005 to 2010 were included. DPs were derived by principal component analysis. We applied analysis of covariance and multivariable-adjusted linear regressions accounting for the masked variance and utilizing the proposed weighting methodology. The analytical sample comprised 18,318 participants (mean age = 45.8 years), of whom 48.3% (n = 8607) were men with no age difference by gender (P = .126). The first DP was representative of a diet rich in carbohydrate and sugar, total fat and saturated fatty acid (SFA), high-caloric dieatry pattern; the second DP was highly loaded with vitamins, minerals and fiber (nutrient-dense dietary patten), and the third DP was mainly representative of high dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) (healthy fat DP). The adjusted (age, sex, race, physical activity, smoking, C-reactive protein) mean of LAP, VAI and glucose homeostasis indices increased across increasing quarters of the first DP score (all P < .001), while across increasing score of the second DP, the adjusted mean of LAP, VAI, glucose homeostasis indices decreased (all P < .001). Findings were similar in adjusted linear regressions models. Our findings support that affordable measurements, such as VAI and LAP, could be good alternative surrogate markers of visceral fat. They are also significantly related to DPs in same line as with glucose/insulin homeostasis and anthropometric indices.

Sleeve Gastrectomy Recovering Disordered Brain Function in Subjects with Obesity: a Longitudinal fMRI Study.

OBJECTIVE: Bariatric surgery could recover regional dysfunction of cerebral cortex. However, it is unknown whether bariatric surgery could recover the global-level dysfunction in subjects with obesity. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of bariatric surgery on global-level dysfunction in subjects with obesity by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). METHODS: Resting-state fMRI was used to investigate dysfunction of whole-brain in 34 subjects with obesity and 34 age-and gender-matched normal-weight subjects, in which 17 subjects with obesity received sleeve gastrectomy. Fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) and functional connectivity (FC) among the whole brain were used to estimate the brain functional differences among the preoperative subjects, postoperative subjects, and the controls. RESULTS: The preoperative subjects compared to controls had decreased resting-state activities in reward processing and cognitive control regions such as orbitofrontal cortex, middle frontal gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, and gyrus rectus. It was important that increased FC was also found in these regions. Correlation analysis showed that body mass index (BMI) was associated with these decreased activity and increased FC. More importantly, the dysfunction in these regions was recovered by the bariatric surgery. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that bariatric surgery-induced weight loss could reverse the global-level dysfunction in subjects with obesity. The dysfunction in these regions might play a key role in the development of obesity, which might serve as a biomarker in the treatment of obesity.

30 s Response Time of K+ Ion-Selective Hydrogels Functionalized with 18-Crown-6 Ether Based on QCM Sensor.

Potassium detection is critical in monitoring imbalances in electrolytes and physiological status. The development of rapid and robust potassium sensors is desirable in clinical chemistry and point-of-care applications. In this study, composite supramolecular hydrogels are investigated: polyethylene glycol methacrylate and acrylamide copolymer (P(PEGMA-co-AM)) are functionalized with 18-crown-6 ether by employing surface initiated polymerization. Real-time potassium ion monitoring is realized by combining these compounds with quartz crystal microbalance. The device demonstrates a rapid response time of ≈30 s and a concentration detection range from 0.5 to 7.0 × 10-3 m. These hydrogels also exhibit high reusability and K+ ion selectivity relative to other cations in biofluids such as Na+ , NH4+ , Mg2+ , and Ca2+ . These results provide a new approach for sensing alkali metal ions using P(PEGMA-co-AM) hydrogels.

Modelling glacier variation and its impact on water resource in the Urumqi Glacier No. 1 in Central Asia.

Climate warming is expected to accelerate glacier retreat and shift hydrological regime, which poses great threat to regional water resources in terms of amount, variability, and quality. This is especially true in arid regions with glaciers such as the Central Asia. However, few models manage to mimic both glacier runoff and surface changes with adequate performance. To narrow this gap, we integrated a spatially distributed hydrological model (FLEXG) and a glacier retreat model (∆h-parameterization), and tested the new model in the Urumqi Glacier No. 1 catchment, which is best monitored in China. The model inputs include climate forcing, topographic map and initial ice thickness. Here we validated the model with runoff observation at downstream and glacier measurements, i.e. three historical glacier area maps (1980, 1994 and 2002), annual glacier mass balance (GMB) and equilibrium line altitude (ELA). Results show that the FLEXG-∆h model performed well in estimating runoff (with Kling-Gupta efficiency 0.75 for hydrograph) and reproducing historical glacier area variation. Additionally the model generated reasonably spatial distribution of glacier thickness, which is important to examine glacier evolution at the Urumqi Glacier No. 1. Subsequently we ran the model forced by 12 combinations of two climate scenarios and six bias correction methods to assess the impact of climate change on glacier thinning, retreat, and its influence on water resource. The impact assessment shows that glacier area will lose up to a half (54%) of their 1980 extent in 2050, and up to 80% in 2100; while ice volume will decrease up to 79% in 2050, and 92% in 2100. The tipping point (peak water) of glacier melt supply was projected to occur around 2020 and then runoff would decrease significantly. These results alert us that there is a need for immediate mitigation measures to adapt to fast glacier change to assure long-term water security in this region.

Microbial functional genes elucidate environmental drivers of biofilm metabolism in glacier-fed streams.

Benthic biofilms in glacier-fed streams harbor diverse microorganisms driving biogeochemical cycles and, consequently, influencing ecosystem-level processes. Benthic biofilms are vulnerable to glacial retreat induced by climate change. To investigate microbial functions of benthic biofilms in glacier-fed streams, we predicted metagenomes from 16s rRNA gene sequence data using PICRUSt and identified functional genes associated with nitrogen and sulfur metabolisms based on KEGG database and explored the relationships between metabolic pathways and abiotic factors in glacier-fed streams in the Tianshan Mountains in Central Asia. Results showed that the distribution of functional genes was mainly associated with glacier area proportion, glacier source proportion, total nitrogen, dissolved organic carbon, and pH. For nitrogen metabolism, the relative abundance of functional genes associated with dissimilatory pathways was higher than those for assimilatory pathways. The relative abundance of functional genes associated with assimilatory sulfate reduction was higher than those involved with the sulfur oxidation system and dissimilatory sulfate reduction. Hydrological factors had more significant correlations with nitrogen metabolism than physicochemical factors and anammox was the most sensitive nitrogen cycling pathway responding to variation of the abiotic environment in these glacial-fed streams. In contrast, sulfur metabolism pathways were not sensitive to variations of abiotic factors in these systems.

Inflammatory Markers Are Positively Associated with Serum trans-Fatty Acids in an Adult American Population.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The relationship between serum trans-fatty acids (TFAs) and systemic inflammation markers is unclear. We investigated the association of serum TFAs with high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and fibrinogen in adult Americans. METHODS: The 1999 to 2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) participants with measured data on hs-CRP and fibrinogen were included. TFAs were measured via capillary gas chromatography and mass spectrometry using negative chemical ionization. Analysis of covariance and multivariable-adjusted linear regression models were used to investigate the associations between these parameters, accounting for the survey design. RESULTS: Of the 5446 eligible participants, 46.8% (n = 2550) were men. The mean age was 47.1 years overall: 47.8 years in men and 46.5 years in women (p = 0.085). After adjustment for age and sex, mean serum TFAs rose with the increasing quarters of hs-CRP and fibrinogen (both p < 0.001). In linear regression models adjusted for age, sex, race, education, marital status, body mass index, and smoking, serum TFAs were an independent predictor of plasma hs-CRP and fibrinogen levels. CONCLUSION: A high level of TFAs appears to be a contributor to an unfavourable inflammatory profile. Because serum TFAs concentrations are affected by dietary TFA intake, these data suggest a possible contribution of TFAs intake modulation in the prevention of inflammation-related chronic diseases.

Changes in adiposity and other cardiometabolic risk factors following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: A 12-month prospective cohort study in Chinese patients.

AIM: We aimed to investigate the changes in adiposity and other cardiometabolic risk factors in the year following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) in patients of Chinese ethnicity. METHODS: The study recruited 209 patients who met the indications for bariatric surgery. Adiposity and cardiometabolic risk factors were assessed at baseline and over the 12 months following surgery in all participants. SPSS® software was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The mean body mass index (BMI) was 29.98 kg/m2 at baseline and steadily decreased to 25.32 kg/m2 at 12 months, giving a relative change of -15.5% (p < 0.001). All of the lipid profile fractions except high-density lipoprotein (HDL) declined during the first 12 months of follow up; serum HDL increased during this time (all ANOVA p < 0.001). The mean fasting plasma glucose was 9.49 mmol/L at baseline and gradually decreased to 5.69 mmol/L at 12 months, giving a relative change of -40.0% (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Following the RYGB procedure, changes in measures of adiposity were paralleled by a significant improvement in cardiometabolic factors for 12 months after surgery.

The relationship of plasma Trans fatty acids with dietary inflammatory index among US adults.

BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that trans fatty acids (TFAs) play an important role in cardiovascular diseases. We investigated the association between plasma TFAs and the dietary inflammatory index (DII) ™ in US adults. METHODS: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) participants with data on plasma TFAs measured from 1999 to 2010 were included. Energy-adjusted-DII ™ (E-DII ™) expressed per 1000 kcal was calculated from 24-h dietary recalls. All statistical analyses accounted for the survey design and sample weights. RESULTS: Of the 5446 eligible participants, 46.8% (n = 2550) were men. The mean age of the population was 47.1 years overall, 47.8 years for men and 46.5 years for women (p = 0.09). After adjustment for C-reactive protein, body-mass-index, smoking, race, age, education, and marital status in linear regressions, trans 9-hexadecenoic acid [ß coefficient 0.068 (95% CI: 0.032 to 0.188)], trans 11-octadecenoic acid [ß coefficient 0.143 (95% CI: 0.155 to 0.310)], trans 9-octadecenoic acid [ß coefficient 0.122 (95% CI: 0.120 to 0.277)], trans 9, and trans 12-octadienoic acid [ß coefficient 0.103 (95% CI: 0.090 to 0.247)] were positively associated with the DII (all p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The association of plasma TFAs with a marker of dietary inflammation suggests an underlying mechanism in the initiation and progression of cardiovascular diseases.

Effect of Sodium-Glucose Cotransport-2 Inhibitors on Blood Pressure in People With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 43 Randomized Control Trials With 22 528 Patients.

BACKGROUND: The sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are a class of oral hypoglycemic agents. We undertake a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies to determine the effect of SGLT2 on blood pressure (BP) among individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS AND RESULTS: PubMed-Medline, Web of Science, Cochrane Database, and Google Scholar databases were searched to identify trial registries evaluating the impact of SGLT2 on BP. Random-effects models meta-analysis was used for quantitative data synthesis. The meta-analysis indicated a significant reduction in systolic BP following treatment with SGLT2 (weighted mean difference -2.46 mm Hg [95% CI -2.86 to -2.06]). The weighted mean differences for the effect on diastolic BP was -1.46 mm Hg (95% CI -1.82 to -1.09). In these subjects the weighted mean difference effects on serum triglycerides and total cholesterol were -2.08 mg/dL (95% CI -2.51 to -1.64) and 0.77 mg/dL (95% CI 0.33-1.21), respectively. The weighted mean differences for the effect of SGLT2 on body weight was -1.88 kg (95% CI -2.11 to -1.66) across all studies. These findings were robust in sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with SGLT2 glucose cotransporter inhibitors therefore has beneficial off-target effects on BP in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and may also be of value in improving other cardiometabolic parameters including lipid profile and body weight in addition to their expected effects on glycemic control. However, our findings should be interpreted with consideration for the moderate statistical heterogeneity across the included studies.