Risk factors of pelvic floor muscle strength in south Chinese women: a retrospective study.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate pelvic floor muscle strength using surface electromyography and risk factors for pelvic floor muscle strength in the early postpartum period. METHODS: This retrospective study included 21,302 participants who visited Fujian Maternity and Child Health Hospital from September 2019 to February 2022. All participants were assessed by medical professionals for general information and surface electromyography. RESULTS: Univariate analysis indicated that age was inversely related to tonic and endurance contractions. In contrast, all the other variables, including education level, body mass index, neonatal weight, and number of fetuses, had a positive impact on rapid, tonic, and endurance contractions. Likewise, parity was also positively associated with rapid contractions. In addition, compared with vaginal delivery, cesarean section delivery had a protective effect on the amplitude of the three types of contractions. Stepwise regression analysis showed that both age and neonatal weight had a negative linear relationship with the amplitude of rapid, tonic and endurance contractions. In contrast, the amplitude of rapid, tonic and endurance contractions significantly increased as body mass index, parity (≤ 3), education level and gestational weight gain (endurance contractions only) increased. Participants with cesarean section delivery showed positive effects on rapid, tonic, and endurance contractions compared to participants with vaginal delivery. CONCLUSIONS: We found that age, neonatal weight, vaginal delivery, episiotomy, and forceps delivery were risk factors for pelvic floor muscle strength; in contrast, body mass index, parity (≤ 3) and gestational weight gain had a positive relationship with pelvic floor muscle strength.

Maternal body mass index and risk of fetal overgrowth in women with gestational diabetes Mellitus in Southeast China: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) changes and large for gestational age (LGA) in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). METHODS: A retrospective cohort study including 10,486 women with GDM was conducted. A dose‒response analysis of BMI changes and the occurrence of LGA was performed. Binary logistic regressions were performed to assess crude and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and areas under the curve (AUCs) were used to assess the ability of BMI changes to predict LGA. RESULTS: The probability of LGA increased with increasing BMI. The risk of LGA increased across the BMI change quartiles. The BMI change remained positively associated with the risk of LGAafter stratification analysis. The AUC was 0.570 (95% CI: 0.557 ~ 0.584)in the entire study population, and the best optimal predictive cut-off value was 4.922, with a sensitivity of 0.622 and a specificity of 0.486. The best optimal predictive cut-off value decreased from the underweight group to the overweight and obese group. CONCLUSIONS: BMI changes are related to the risk of LGA and may be a useful predictor of the incidence of LGA in singleton pregnant women with GDM.

Impact of parity on pelvic floor morphology and function: A retrospective study.

To analyze the effect of parity on pelvic floor morphology and function during the postpartum period. A total of 971 participants, who attended the Fujian Maternity and Child Health Hospital (Fuzhou, China) between December 2019 and August 2021, were included. All participants were assessed using the modified Oxford scale (MOS), pelvic floor surface electromyography, and 3-dimensional pelvic floor ultrasound to assess pelvic floor morphology and function. Multivariate analysis revealed no differences among primipara, deuteripara, and tertipara in pre-baseline rest, phasic contraction, endurance contraction, post-baseline rest, and MOS, except for tonic contraction (P = .020), the amplitude of which was lower in primipara than in deuteripara in post hoc comparison (P = .008). Differences in bladder neck presentation and bladder neck descent were statistically significant in multivariate analysis (P = .002, P = .001, respectively), with the value of bladder neck presentation in primiparas being greater than that of deuteriparas and tertipara (P = .002, P = .008, respectively), and the value of bladder neck descent was lower than that of deuteripara and tertipara in further post hoc comparisons (P = .002, P = .003, respectively). Functional impairment was not statistically associated with parity according to the MOS score or surface electromyography. However, parity was significantly correlated with descent of the bladder neck, and most of the effects appeared to occur during the first delivery.

A pan-cancer analysis of the oncogenic role of polypyrimidine tract binding protein 1 (PTBP1) in human tumors.

BACKGROUND: Polypyrimidine tract-binding protein 1 (PTBP1) is an RNA-binding protein that regulates several posttranscriptional events and is closely related to the development of multiple tumors. However, little is known about PTBP1. Thus, we carried out a systematic pan-cancer analysis to explore the relationship between PTBP1 and cancer. METHODS: We used The Cancer Genome Atlas, Gene Expression Omnibus, and Human Protein Atlas datasets, as well as several bioinformatics tools, to explore the role of PTBP1 in 33 tumor types. RESULTS: The expression of PTBP1 in most tumor tissues was higher than that in normal tissues. Survival analysis indicated that overexpression of PTBP1 generally predicted poor overall survival in patients with tumors such as adrenocortical carcinoma, liver hepatocellular carcinoma, lung adenocarcinoma, and skin cutaneous melanoma. In addition, we compared the phosphorylation and immune infiltration of PTBP1 in cancer-associated fibroblasts between normal and primary tumor tissues and explored the putative functional mechanism of tumorigenesis mediated by PTBP1. CONCLUSION: These results provide clues to better understand PTBP1 from the perspective of bioinformatics and highlight its importance in various human cancers.

The Safety of Baduanjin Exercise: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVES: Baduanjin exercise is a form of Qigong exercise therapy that has become increasingly popular worldwide. The aims of the current systematic review were to summarize reported adverse events potentially associated with Baduanjin exercise based on currently available literature and to evaluate the quality of the methods used to monitor adverse events in the trials assessed. METHODS: The English databases PubMed, Cochrane library, and EMbase were searched from inception to October 2020 using the keywords "Baduanjin" or "eight session brocade." Only studies that included Baduanjin exercise therapy were included. RESULTS: Forty-seven trials with a total of 3877 participants were included in this systematic review. Twenty-two studies reported protocols for monitoring adverse events, and two studies reported the occurrence of adverse events during training. The adverse events reported included palpitation, giddiness, knee pain, backache, fatigue, nervousness, dizziness, shoulder pain, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and muscle ache. CONCLUSIONS: Only two studies reported adverse events that were potentially caused by Baduanjin exercise. Adverse events related to Baduanjin exercise in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome may include muscle ache, palpitation, giddiness, knee pain, backache, fatigue, nervousness, dizziness, shoulder pain, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. Further studies conducted in accordance with the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials statement guideline incorporating monitoring of adverse events are recommended. Additional clinical trials in which Baduanjin exercise is used as a main intervention are needed, and further meta-analysis may be required to assess its safety and reach more informed conclusions in this regard in the future.