The predicting value of the ratio of levator hiatus diameter to fetal head circumference in pregnant women at 37 weeks of gestation in the progression of the second stage of labor and levator ani injury 6 weeks postpartum.

Objective: This study investigated the predicting value of the ratio of levator hiatus diameter (LHS) to fetal head circumference (HC) in pregnant women at 37 weeks of gestation in the progression of the second stage of labor and levator ani injury 6 weeks postpartum. Methods: A total of 120 first-time women who gave vaginal delivery at 37 weeks of pregnancy were selected as the subjects in our hospital during March 2021 to March 2022. The subjects were divided into the second stage of labor > 1 h group and the second stage of labor ≤ 1 h group, according to the delivery time of the second stage of labor. According to the 6-week postpartum follow-up ultrasound examination with or without levator ani injury, they were divided into levator ani injury group and no injury group. All primipara women underwent three-dimensional ultrasonography at 37 weeks of gestation, and the resting LHS, Valsalva LHS, fetal HC and the ratio of resting LHS and fetal HC were compared. The correlation between these factors and the length of the second labor stage was analyzed using Pearson correlation analysis. The value of these factors in predicting labor progression and postpartum levator ani injury was assessed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results: The resting LHS, Valsalva LHS and the ratio of resting LHS and fetal HC in the levator ani injury group were lower than these in the no injury group, while fetal HC in the levator ani injury group was higher than that in the no injury group (P < 0.05). The resting LHS, Valsalva LHS and the ratio of resting LHS and fetal HC in the second stage of labor > 1 h group were lower than these in the second stage of labor ≤ 1 h group, while fetal HC in the second stage of labor > 1 h group was higher than that in the second stage of labor ≤ 1 h group (P < 0.05). A significant negative correlation was observed between resting LHS/HC and total labor process (=-0.333, P < 0.01). ROC curve analysis showed that the AUCs of resting LHS, Valsalva LHS, HC, and resting LHS/HC ratio in predicting prolongation of the second stage of labor were 0.741, 0.740, 0.702, and 0.843 respectively. Besides, the AUCs of resting LHS, Valsalva LHS, HC, and resting LHS/HC ratio in predicting the total labor process were 0.657, 0.684, 0.768, and 0.836 respectively. The AUCs of resting LHS, Valsalva LHS, HC, and resting LHS/HC ratio in predicting postpartum levator ani muscle injury were 0.769, 0.773, 0.747, and 0.885 respectively.These results suggested that the ratio of resting LHS and fetal HC may have certain clinical value in predicting levator ani injury in pregnant women. Conclusion: LHS, fetal HC and the ratio of resting LHS and fetal HC are significantly correlated with labor progression and postpartum levator ani injury, which have certain value in predicting labor progress and postpartum levator ani injury. Therein, the ratio of resting LHS and fetal HC has the highest predictive value, and early detection of the ratio of resting LHS and fetal HC is helpful to guide the selection of appropriate delivery mode.

Expression of microRNAs in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNA) are noncoding RNAs that play a central role in governing various physiological and pathological processes. There are few studies on miRNA involvement in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). In this study, we performed a meta-analysis of the miRNA expression profiling from GDM patients. METHODS: Guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols, we performed a systematic search of the PubMed, Cochrane Library, and EMBASE databases from inception to December 20, 2021, to retrieve the original research studies. All the relevant data were retrieved, analyzed, and summarized. RESULTS: Six studies (252 GDM cases and 309 controls) were included and analyzed. The six studies reported the expressions of 21 miRNAs in GDM cases. Of the 21 miRNAs, 12 miRNAs were found to be upregulated, and two were downregulated. The top three most consistently reported upregulated miRNAs were miR-16-5p (mean differences of fold change are 1.25, 95% CI = 0.04-2.46, P = 0.040), miR-19a-3p (mean differences of fold change are 2.90, 95% CI = 1.45-4.35, P = 0.001), and miR-19b-3p (mean differences of fold change are 3.10, 95% CI = 0.94-5.25, P = 0.005). miR-155-5p and miR-21-3p were found to be downregulated. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that several miRNAs may be used as markers for diabetes gestational diabetes mellitus. In the future, more studies are needed to validate the findings of our study.

Development of QuEChERS clean-up based on EMR-lipid for simultaneous analysis of 9 mycotoxins, acaylamide and 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural in biscuit by UHPLC-MS/MS.

A robust and sensitive analytical method for the simultaneous determination of 9 mycotoxins, AA, and 5-HMF by UHPLC-MS/MS was developed. Clean-up of the extracts was achieved by d-SPE with EMR-lipid. A new column phase (C18-PFP) was selected for HPLC separation after comparison with the C18 column. Finally, the method gave good linear relations with regression coefficients R2 > 0.99. The recovery of all the tested compounds was within the range of 70.67 to 104.88%, and the intraday and interday relative standard deviations (RSD) were lower than 12.49. The proposed method was then applied to investigate the mycotoxins, AA and 5-HMF in 20 food samples sold in the retail market. AA and 5-HMF were widely detected, and half of the samples were found to contain at least one mycotoxin contamination. Therefore, this method is potential to be used as a convenient and effective method for the cookies product quality control in the future.

Lead exposure exacerbates adverse effects of HFD on metabolic function via disruption of gut microbiome, leading to compromised barrier function and inflammation.

PURPOSE: The toxicity of lead (Pb) has been intensively studied, while the adverse effects in the population on a high-fat diet (HFD) remain unclear. This study compared the different biologic effects of Pb in CHOW and HFD-fed mice and investigated the important role that gut microbiota may play. METHODS: C57BL/6 mice were fed a CHOW diet and HFD with or without 1 g/L Pb exposure through drinking water for 8 weeks. Using oral glucose tolerance test, histopathological observation, real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and 16S high-throughput sequencing to compare the Pb toxicity, fecal microbiota transplantation was conducted to investigate the key role of gut microbiota. RESULTS: The metabolic disorders induced by HFD were aggravated by chronic Pb intake, and HFD exacerbated the Pb accumulation in the colon by 96%, 32% in blood, 27% in the liver, and 142% in tibiae. Concomitantly, Pb induced more serious colonic injury, further disturbing the composition of gut microbiota in the HFD-fed mice. Moreover, altered fecal microbiota by HFD and Pb directly mediated metabolic disorders and colonic damage in recipient mice, which emphasized the importance of gut microbiota. CONCLUSION: These findings indicated that the population with HFD has lower resistance and would face more security risks under Pb pollution, and pointed out the importance of assessing the health impacts of food contaminants in people with different dietary patterns.

A Combination of Novel Nucleic Acid Cross-Linking Dye and Recombinase-Aided Amplification for the Rapid Detection of Viable Salmonella in Milk.

Salmonella, as an important foodborne pathogen, can cause various diseases, such as severe enteritis. In recent years, various types of nucleicacid-intercalating dyes have been utilized to detect viable Salmonella. However, in principle, the performance of existing nucleic acid dyes is limited because they depend on the integrity of cell membrane. Herein, based on the metabolic activity of bacteria, a novel DNA dye called thiazole orange monoazide (TOMA) was introduced to block the DNA from dead bacteria. Recombinase-aided amplification (RAA) was then performed to detect viable Salmonella in samples. In this study, the permeability of TOMA to the cell membrane of Salmonella was evaluated via confocal laser scanning microscopy and fluorescence emission spectrometry. The limit of detection (LOD) of the TOMA-RAA method was 2.0 × 104 CFU/mL in pure culture. The feasibility of the TOMA-RAA method in detecting Salmonella was assessed in spiked milk. The LOD for Salmonella was 3.5 × 102 CFU/mL after 3 h of enrichment and 3.5 × 100 CFU/mL after 5 h of enrichment. The proposed TOMA-RAA assay has great potential to be applied to accurately detect and monitor foodborne pathogens in milk and its byproducts.

Soluble dietary fiber from tea residues with inhibitory effects against acrylamide and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural formation in biscuits: The role of bound polyphenols.

This study investigated the impact of soluble dietary fiber (SDF) from untreated (U-SDF), fermented (F-SDF) and high temperature cooked (H-SDF) from tea residues on formation of acrylamide (AA) and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) in biscuits. Both 3% F-SDF and 2% H-SDF can simultaneously inhibit AA and 5-HMF and SDFs increased the types of volatile compounds in biscuits. After the determination of the bound polyphenol compositions in SDFs by LC-QTOF-MS/MS, six polyphenols with different structural characteristics were selected to explore their contributions on the inhibitory effect of SDFs and structure-inhibitory capacity relationships in the "glucose-asparagine-linoleic acid" model system. It showed that the inhibitory activities of those polyphenols were greatly affected by the number of hydroxyl groups and methoxy groups on the benzene ring. Almost all polyphenols were also found to scavenge hydroxyl radicals generated in reactions. Thus, this study suggests that the bound polyphenols of SDFs play a key role in the inhibition of AA and 5-HMF.

Exploring Acrylamide and 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural Formation in Glucose-Asparagine-Linoleic Acid System With a Kinetic Model Approach.

In the "glucose-asparagine-linoleic acid" ternary system, a kinetic model approach was used to explore formation and elimination law of target hazards, including acrylamide (AA) and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF), and their related precursors and intermediate products. The results showed that the elimination of glucose and asparagine and the formation of fructose (generated from glucose isomerization), 3-deoxyglucosone (3-DG), methylglyoxal (MGO), and glyoxal (GO), AA and 5-HMF followed first-order reaction kinetics with high fit coefficients (R2 > 0.9). In addition, the kinetic reaction rate constants increased as the increasing temperature, and all models followed the Arrhenius law. Results of statistical correlations analysis suggested that at lower temperature, the generic amino acid route and the specific amino acid route may paly crucial roles for the formation of AA and 5-HMF, while at high temperature a linoleic acid pathway may be predominantly involved.

The Value of Prenatal First Systolic Blood Pressure Can Predict Severe Preeclampsia and Birth Weight in Patients With Preeclampsia.

BACKGROUND: Preeclampsia is a serious complication of pregnancy that threatens the safety of the fetus and mother. We assessed the relationship between systolic blood pressure (SBP) in the early pregnancy stage (12 weeks) in patients with preeclampsia and the development of severe eclampsia and birth weight. METHODS: Patients were categorized based on the quartiles of the prenatal first SBP level. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess whether prenatal first SBP was a risk factor for low birth weight and severe preeclampsia. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC) of sensitivity and specificity were used to predict the risk of low birth weight and severe preeclampsia. RESULTS: A total of 333 patients with preeclampsia were enrolled. There were 162 (48.6%) patients with severe preeclampsia and 270 (81.08%) cesareans. Group I patients with a prenatal first SBP ≤ 119 mmHg prenatal had a higher birth weight. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that serum creatinine (p = 0.025), prenatal first SBP (p = 0.029), S-preeclampsia (p = 0.003), gestational age (p < 0.001), total cholesterol (TC) (p < 0.001), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (p < 0.001) were independent risk factors for low birth weight. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that prenatal first SBP (p = 0.003), TC (p = 0.002), and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) (p < 0.001) were independent risk factors for severe preeclampsia. Compared with Group I (SBP ≤ 119 mmHg), the incidence of low birth weight for patients in groups III (131 ≤ SBP ≤ 138 mmHg) and IV (SBP ≥ 139 mmHg) was significantly higher. Even after correcting for age, gestational age, and biochemical indices, the difference remained statistically significant. The risk of diagnosed severe preeclampsia for patients in Groups IV (SBP ≥ 139 mmHg), III (131 ≤ SBP ≤ 138 mmHg), and II (120 ≤ SBP ≤ 130 mmHg) was significantly higher than that in Group I (SBP ≤ 119 mmHg). The AUC of the prenatal first SBP for predicting low birth weight and severe preeclampsia was 0.676 (95% CI 0.618-0.733, p < 0.001) and 0.727 (95% CI 0.673-0.781, p < 0.001), respectively, in patients with preeclampsia. CONCLUSIONS: Prenatal first SBP was associated with birth weight and severe preeclampsia. Higher prenatal first SBP in patients with preeclampsia can predict low birth weight and severe preeclampsia.