Cigarette smoking as a risk factor for type 2 diabetes in women compared with men: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated the effect of smoking on type 2 diabetes in women compared with men, even though several epidemiological studies provided a clear picture of the risk among the entire population. METHODS: We systematically searched PubMed and Embase up to August 2017 for prospective studies that were stratified by sex with measures of the relative risk (RR) for type 2 diabetes and current smoking compared with non-smoking. The sex-specific RRs and their ratios (RRRs), comparing women with man, were pooled using random-effects models. RESULTS: Seventeen articles were identified including 20 prospective cohorts with 5 077 289 participants and 223 084 incident cases of type 2 diabetes. The pooled RRR suggested a similar risk of type 2 diabetes associated with smoking in women compared with men (RRR: 0.98, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.96-1.01). Furthermore, no significant sex difference in the RR was found between former smokers and those who had never smoked (RRR: 0.98, 95% CI: 0.92-1.04). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this meta-analysis indicate that female smokers had similar risk of type 2 diabetes with male smokers.

Cardiorespiratory Fitness Attenuates the Obesity Risk in Chinese Children Who Have Parents with Overweight/Obesity.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of parental weight status and offspring cardiorespiratory fitness on the risk of obesity among Chinese children. STUDY DESIGN: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Wuhan, China from May to June 2010. Children's height, weight, and waist circumference were measured for assessing their total and central obesity. Their cardiorespiratory fitness was determined by the 20-m shuttle-run test. We calculated parental body mass index according to self-reported height and weight, and divided it into normal weight or overweight/obesity. Multivariable logistic regression model was applied to estimate the combined relationships of cardiorespiratory fitness and parental weight status with the risk of obesity of children. RESULTS: A total of 587 Chinese children (343 boys and 244 girls) aged 9.6 (0.7) years participated in this study. Compared with those who had low cardiorespiratory fitness and at least 1 parent with overweight/obesity, children who had high cardiorespiratory fitness and at least 1 parent with overweight/obesity reported lower risks of total obesity (OR 0.12, 95% CI .05-0.30) and central obesity (OR .09, 95% CI .04-0.20), and children who had high cardiorespiratory fitness and no parent with overweight/obesity were 89% (OR 0.11, 95% CI .05-0.24) less likely to have total obesity and 92% (OR .08, 95% CI .04-0.16) less likely to have central obesity (all P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: High level of cardiorespiratory fitness among children could attenuate the influence of parental obesity on their offspring's weight status.

Development of indirect competitive fluorescence immunoassay for 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether using DNA/dye conjugate as antibody multiple labels.

An indirect competitive fluorescence immunoassay using a DNA/dye conjugate as antibody multiple labels was developed on 96-well plates for the identification and quantification of 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) in aqueous samples. A hapten, 2,4,2'-tribromodiphenyl ether-4'-aldehyde, was synthesized, and was conjugated to bovine serum albumin to form a coating antigen. Specific recognition of the antigen by anti-PBDE antiserum was confirmed by a surface plasmon resonance measurement. In the immunoassay, the coating antigen was adsorbed on a 96-well plate first, and a sample, antiserum and biotinylated goat anti-rabbit secondary antibody were then added and reacted sequentially. A biotinylated, double-stranded DNA with 219 base pairs was attached to the secondary antibody by using streptavidin as a molecular bridge. In situ multiple labeling of the antibody was accomplished after addition of a DNA-binding fluorescent dye, SYBR Green I. The working range of the immunoassay for the BDE-47 standard was 3.1-390 microg/L, with an IC50 value of 15.6 microg/L. The calculated LOD of the immunoassay is 0.73 microg/L. The immunoassay demonstrated relatively high selectivity for BDE-47, showing very low cross-reactivity (< 3%) with BDE-15, BDE-153 and BDE-209. With a spiked river water sample containing 50 microg/L BDE-47, quantification by the immunoassay was 41.9 microg/L, which compared well with the standard GC-ECD method (45.7 microg/L). The developed immunoassay provides a rapid screening tool for polybrominated diphenyl ethers in environmental samples.

Association of food expenditure with life expectancy in the United States, 2001-2014.

OBJECTIVES: A healthy diet is associated with reduced risk for premature death; however, data on the association between food expenditure and life expectancy are scarce. The aim of this study was to determine the association of expenditure on food groups with life expectancy in men and women. METHODS: This study used data from 1548 counties, representing >90% of the population of the United States from 2001 through the end of 2014. Multivariable adjusted Bayesian generalized linear models were used to assess the association of county-level expenditure on nine groups of individual food and combined healthy and unhealthy foods, and a constructed healthy diet score with life expectancy at 40 y of age by sex. RESULTS: A 1-unit increase in the healthy diet score based on food expenditure was associated with a 0.07 y (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.05-0.10), 0.04 y (95% CI, 0.02-0.07), and 0.06 y (95% CI, 0.04-0.08) increase in county-level life expectancy among men alone, women alone, and men and women combined, respectively. Increasing expenditure on whole grains (estimate of per 1% increase 0.07; 95% CI, 0.03-0.11), fresh fruit and vegetables (0.06; 95% CI, 0.02-0.09), and dairy products (0.05; 95% CI, 0.03-0.07), as well as reducing expenditure on sugar-sweetened beverages (-0.02; 95% CI, -0.04 to -0.01) and processed red meat (-0.05; 95% CI, -0.08 to -0.02) showed a positive association with increased county-level life expectancy. CONCLUSIONS: These findings may inform a nutritional measure against premature death and stagnation of increase in life expectancy.

Effects of rutin on vegetative growth of mung bean (Vigna radiata) seedlings and its interaction with indoleacetic acid.

Rutin is one of the natural flavonoids in plants. Effects of rutin and indoleacetic acid (IAA) on vegetative growth of mung bean seedlings were studied and the contents of rutin and IAA in the hypocotyls of the seedlings were measured. Mung bean seedlings absorbed rutin through roots, grew more vigorously under light at lower rutin concentrations (20-60 microg/mL) with longer shoot axis (epicotyl+hypocotyl) and primary root and more lateral roots. The seedlings exhibited inhibition of elongation of the hypocotyls and radicles when grown in the dark at rutin concentrations of 20-100 microg/mL or under light at rutin concentrations of 80-100 microg/mL. Seedlings under light absorbed more rutin than those in the dark at rutin concentrations of 60-80 microg/mL and absorbed less rutin at concentrations lower than 40 microg/mL or near 100 microg/mL. IAA (>0.1 microg/mL) treatment promoted rutin accumulation and inhibited elongation of shoot axis and primary roots. The rutin content in hypocotyls reached the highest level when IAA (0.5 microg/mL) and rutin (40 microg/mL) were added to the medium. Rutin repressed endogenous IAA accumulation in hypocotyls of the etiolated seedlings and inhibited absorption of exogenous IAA from media to seedlings.

[Status and influencing factors of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) pollution in the coastal areas in China].

This review focused on the distribution, pollution status, sources and influencing factors of PCBs in the coastal areas (seawater, surface sediments and biota) in China. A few main points are listed as follows: (1) For coastal seawater, concentrations of PCBs were increasing from the north to the south and the highest concentrations of PCBs were observed in the developed east coastal areas. The concentrations of PCBs in most coastal areas were higher than the seawater standard of U. S. EPA (30 ng x L(-1)), indicating that there was a high potential risk. (2) Only a small part of surface sediments had PCBs concentrations higher than the ISQG (interim sediment quality guideline) and ERL (effects range-low) values, suggesting little probability of causing biological adverse effects and potential risk in surface sediments. (3) High-molecular-weight PCBs (4, 5 and 6 chlorinated biphenyl) were bio-accumulated in marine biota. The concentrations of PCBs in organisms were generally lower than 2000 ng x g(-1), which may have negligible effects on human health. (4) The main sources of PCBs were wastewater discharged from factories and the leakage of dismantling PCBs from electronic wastes. Factors influencing the concentrations and distribution of PCBs in the coastal areas included distance from land, flow exchange situation, water-carrying capacity, season, sediment particle size and total organic carbon content.

Structural basis for preferential binding of non-ortho-substituted polychlorinated biphenyls by the monoclonal antibody S2B1.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a family of 209 isomers (congeners) with a wide range of toxic effects. In structural terms, they are of two types: those with and those without chlorines at the ortho positions (2, 2', 6 and 6'). Only 20 congeners have no ortho chlorines. Three of these are bound by the aryl hydrocarbon receptor and are one to four orders of magnitude more toxic than all others. A monoclonal antibody, S2B1, and its recombinant Fab have high selectivity and nanomolar binding affinities for two of the most toxic non-ortho-chlorinated PCBs, 3,4,3',4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl and 3,4,3',4',5'-pentachlorobiphenyl. To investigate the basis for these properties, we built a three-dimensional structure model of the S2B1 variable fragment (Fv) based on the high-resolution crystallographic structures of antibodies 48G7 and N1G9. Two plausible conformations for the complementarity-determining region (CDR) H3 loop led to two putative PCB-binding pockets with very different shapes (models A and B). Docking studies using molecular mechanics and potentials of mean force (PMF) indicated that model B was most consistent with the selectivity observed for S2B1 in competition ELISAs. The binding site in model B had a deep, narrow pocket between V(L) and V(H), with a slight constriction at the top that opened into a wider pocket between CDRs H1 and H3 on the antibody surface. This binding site resembles those of esterolytic antibodies that bind haptens with phenyl rings. One phenyl ring of the PCB fits into the deep pocket, and the other ring is bound in the shallower one. The bound PCB is surrounded by the side chains of TyrL91, TyrL96 and TrpH98, and it has a pi-cation interaction with ArgL46. The tight fit of the binding pocket around the ortho positions of the bound PCBs indicates that steric hindrance of ortho chlorines in the binding site, rather than induced conformational change of the PCBs, is responsible for the selectivity of S2B1.