Exposure to ambient ozone and sperm quality among adult men in China.

BACKGROUND: Limited evidence exists regarding the association between ozone exposure and adverse sperm quality. We aimed to assess the association between ozone exposure and sperm quality, and identify susceptible exposure windows. METHODS: We recruited 32,541 men aged between 22 and 65 years old attending an infertility clinic in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China from 2014 to 2020. Ozone data were obtained from a satellite-based spatiotemporal model. Generalized linear models were used to estimate the association between ozone exposure and sperm quality parameters, including sperm concentration, sperm count, sperm total motility, and sperm progressive motility during the entire stage of sperm development (0-90 days before ejaculation) and three crucial stages (0-9 days, 10-14 days and 70-90 days before ejaculation). Stratified analyses were performed to evaluate whether associations varied by age, body mass index, and education levels. RESULTS: The final analysis included 27,854 adult men. A 10 µg/m3 increase in ozone concentrations during the entire stage of sperm development was associated with a -4.17 % (95 % CI: -4.78 %, -3.57 %) decrease in sperm concentration, -6.54 % (95 % CI: -8.03 %, -5.60 %) decrease in sperm count, -0.50 % (95 % CI: -0.66 %, -0.34 %) decrease in sperm total motility, and -0.07 % (95 % CI: -0.22 %, 0.09 %) decrease in sperm progressive motility. The associations were stronger during 70-90 days before ejaculation and among men with middle school and lower education for sperm concentration. CONCLUSIONS: Ozone exposure was associated with decreased sperm quality among Chinese adult men attending an infertility clinic. These results suggest that ozone may be a risk factor contributing to decreased sperm quality in Chinese men.

Development and validation of a novel criterion of histologic healing in ulcerative colitis defined by inflammatory cell enumeration in lamina propria mucosa: A multicenter retrospective cohort in China.

BACKGROUND: Histological healing is closely associated with improved long-term clinical outcomes and lowered relapses in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). Here, we developed a novel diagnostic criterion for assessing histological healing in UC patients. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study in UC patients, whose treatment was iteratively optimized to achieve mucosal healing at Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital of Tongji University from January 2017 to May 2022. We identified an inflammatory cell enumeration index (ICEI) for assessing histological healing based on the proportions of eosinophils, CD177 + neutrophils, and CD40L + T cells in the colonic lamina propria under high power field (HPF), and the outcomes (risks of symptomatic relapses) of achieving histological remission vs . persistent histological inflammation using Kaplan-Meier curves. Intrareader reliability and inter-reader reliability were evaluated by each reader. The relationships to the changes in the Nancy index and the Geboes score were also assessed for responsiveness. The ICEI was further validated in a new cohort of UC patients from other nine university hospitals. RESULTS: We developed an ICEI for clinical diagnosis of histological healing, i.e., Y = 1.701X 1 + 0.758X 2 + 1.347X 3 - 7.745 (X 1 , X 2 , and X 3 represent the proportions of CD177 + neutrophils, eosinophils, and CD40L + T cells, respectively, in the colonic lamina propria under HPF). The receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) analysis revealed that Y <-0.391 was the cutoff value for the diagnosis of histological healing and that an area under the curve (AUC) was 0.942 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.905-0.979) with a sensitivity of 92.5% and a specificity of 83.6% ( P  <0.001). The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for the intrareader reliability was 0.855 (95% CI: 0.781-0.909), and ICEI had good inter-reader reliability of 0.832 (95% CI: 0.748-0.894). During an 18-month follow-up, patients with histological healing had a substantially better outcome compared with those with unachieved histological healing ( P  <0.001) using ICEI. During a 12-month follow-up from other nine hospitals, patients with histological healing also had a lower risk of relapse than patients with unachieved histological healing. CONCLUSIONS: ICEI can be used to predict histological healing and identify patients with a risk of relapse 12 months and 18 months after clinical therapy. Therefore, ICEI provides a promising, simplified approach to monitor histological healing and to predict the prognosis of UC. REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, No. ChiCTR2300077792.

Construction of covalent organic framework nanozymes with photo-enhanced hydrolase activities for colorimetric sensing of organophosphorus nerve agents.

Construction of covalent organic frameworks (COFs)-based nanozymes is of great importance for the extensive applications in catalysis and sensing fields. In this work, a two-dimensional COF (DAFB-DCTP COF) was fabricated via Knoevenagel condensation reaction. The integration of catalytically active sites of pyridine groups into the donor-acceptor (D-A) conjugated skeleton endows DAFB-DCTP COF with both hydrolytic and photosensitive properties. The DAFB-DCTP COF can be utilized as an artificial enzyme with selective and photo-enhanced catalytic efficiency, facilitating its application in photocatalytic degradation of hydrolase substrates (p-nitrophenyl acetate, pNPA) by nucleophilic reaction and further realizing colorimetric detection of the nanozyme inhibitor of organophosphorus nerve agent (diethyl cyanophosphonate, DCNP). The distinct color changes could be distinguished by naked eyes even at a low DCNP concentration, and the versatile smartphone analysis featured with reliability and simplicity. For the first time, the COFs' intrinsic hydrolase activity depending on their structural characteristics was investigated in synergy with the photosensitive performance originating from their photoelectric features. The present contribution provides a promising direction towards construction of colorimetric sensing platform based on the regulation of COFs' non-oxidoreductase activity under visible light irradiation.

Long-term effects of particulate matter on incident cardiovascular diseases in middle-aged and elder adults: The CHARLS cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Although there is evidence of long-term effects of particulate matter (PM) on cardiovascular diseases (CVD), researches about long-term effects of PM1 on CVD are limited. We aimed to examine the long-term effects and magnitude of PM, especially PM1, on incident CVD in China. METHODS: We included 6016 participants aged ≥ 45 years without CVD at baseline in 2011 from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. Personal PM (PM1, PM2.5, and PM10) concentrations were estimated using geocoded residential address. Generalized linear mixed models and SHapley Additive exPlanation were utilized to calculate the impacts and contributions of PM on CVD. Sensitivity analyses were used to check the robustness. RESULTS: After a follow up of 4-year, 481 (7.99 %) participants developed CVD. Per 10 µg/m3 uptick in 1-year average concentrations of PM1, PM2.5 and PM10 was associated with a 1.20 [95 % confidence interval (CI): 1.05-1.37], 1.13 (95 % CI: 1.11-1.15), and 1.10 (95 % CI: 1.06-1.13) fold risk of incident CVD, respectively. The 2-year average concentrations of PM1, PM2.5 and PM10 were associated with incident CVD, corresponding to a 1.03 (95 % CI: 0.96-1.10), 1.11 (95 % CI: 1.02-1.21), and 1.09 (95 % CI: 1.03-1.15) fold risk, respectively. The SHapley Additive exPlanation values of PM1, PM2.5, and PM10 were 0.170, 0.153, and 0.053, respectively, corresponding to the first, second, and fifth among all air pollutants. Effects of PM1, PM2.5 and PM10 on CVD remained statistically significant in two-pollutant models. The elderly, males, smokers and alcohol drinkers tended to have slightly higher effects, while the differences were not statistically significant (all P-values > 0.05) between subgroups. CONCLUSION: Long-term exposure to PM1, PM2.5, and PM10 was associated with an increased incidence of CVD. The smaller the particle size, the more important it was for incident CVD indicating that emphasis should be placed on small size of PM.

Long-term effect of intermediate particulate matter (PM1-2.5) on incident asthma among middle-aged and elderly adults: A national population-based longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: There is insufficient evidence about the long-term effects of intermediate particulate matter (PM1-2.5) on asthma development in adults aged 45 years and above. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between long-term exposure to PM1-2.5 and the incidence of asthma in adults aged 45 years and above. METHODS: A cohort study based on the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) database was conducted to investigate the long-term effects of PM1-2.5 on self-reported asthma incidence in adults aged 45 years and above in China from 2011 to 2018. The PM concentrations were estimated using a high-resolution (1 km2) satellite-based spatiotemporal model. A covariate-adjusted generalized linear mixed model was used to analyze the relationship between long-term exposure to PM1-2.5 and the incidence of asthma. Effect modifications and sensitivity analysis were conducted. RESULTS: After a 7-year follow-up, 103 (1.61 %) of the 6400 participants developed asthma. Each 10 µg/m3 increment in the 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-year moving average concentrations of PM1-2.5 corresponded to a 1.82 [95 % confidence interval (CI):1.11-2.98], 1.95 (95 % CI: 1.24-3.07), 1.95 (95 % CI: 1.26-3.03) and 1.88 (95 % CI: 1.26-2.81) fold risk for incident asthma, respectively. A significant multiplicative interaction was observed between socioeconomic level and long-term exposure to PM1-2.5. Stratified analysis showed that smokers and those with lower socioeconomic levels were at higher risk of incident asthma related to PM1-2.5. Restricted cubic splines showed an increasing trend in asthma incidence with increasing PM1-2.5. Sensitivity analyses showed that our model was robust. CONCLUSION: Long-term exposure to PM1-2.5 was positively associated with incident asthma in middle-aged and elderly individuals. Participants with a history of smoking and lower socioeconomic levels had a higher risk. More studies are warranted warrant to establish an accurate reference value of PM1-2.5 to mitigate the growing asthma burden.