Prevalence of Thyroid Nodules and Its Relationship with Iodine Status in Shanghai: a Population-based Study.

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to evaluate the prevalence of thyroid nodules (TNs) and its relationship with urine iodine concentrations (UICs) after the regional rapid economic growth and lifestyle changes. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in the general population aged 15-69 years. A questionnaire regarding general and personal characteristics and relevant information was administered. Ultrasonography of the thyroid was performed, and serum triiodothyronine (T3), tetraiodothyronine (T4), serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (FT3), free tetraiodothyronine (FT4), thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb), thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb), and TSH receptor antibody (TRAb) levels were measured for each individual subject. RESULTS: The prevalence rates of TNs in the whole population, females and males were 27.76%, 34.04%, and 21.60%, respectively. The prevalence of multiple nodules increased with age, whereas the prevalence peaks differed between males and females. The median UICs in the whole population and females with non-TNs were higher than those of subjects with TNs (P=0.0035, P=0.0068). The median UICs in subjects with a single TN were higher than those in subjects with multiple TNs (P=0.0164, P=0.0127). The result showed a U-shaped curve relationship between UIC and prevalence of TNs. The prevalence of TNs was the lowest when the UIC was 140-400 µg/L. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of TNs was nearly 30% and increased with age. The relationship between UIC and prevalence of TNs is U-shaped, with an increase in risk when the UIC was <140 µg/L and >400 µg/L. Very low or high UIC levels need attention and correction.

[Drinking in different periods of a day of primary and middle school students in four cities of China].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate intake of water in different periods of a day of primary and middle school students in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu of China. METHODS: A total of 5914 primary and middle school students from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu were recruited using multiple-stage random sampling method from September to October 2011. Among them, 5868 students completed the survey. The information of amounts and types of drinking in 8 time periods, morning, afternoon, night as well as in meal and non-meal time in 24 hours of a day was recorded by subjects for seven consecutive days using a quantitative measurement. This information was analyzed by different periods. RESULTS: The amount of drinking water among 8 periods of a day was (99 ± 101), (130 ± 106), (191 ± 155), (96 ± 107), (246 ± 172), (90 ± 101), (188 ± 135) and (50 ± 81) ml, respectively for before breakfast, during breakfast, after breakfast, during lunch, after lunch, during dinner, after dinner, and midnight (F = 1679.77, P < 0.01). Based on three periods of a day, the amount of drinking water in the morning (420 ± 242) ml was the statistically significantly most, followed by afternoon (341 ± 199) ml, and the least in the evening (327 ± 195) ml (F = 325.23, P < 0.01). The distribution trend of plain water in three periods was the same as total drinking water, with (270 ± 209), (250 ± 179) and (224 ± 177) ml, respectively (F = 84.89, P < 0.01) ; but beverage consumption was the most in the morning(151 ± 133) ml, then in the evening (103 ± 122) ml, and the least in the afternoon (91 ± 199) ml (F = 373.56, P < 0.01). The daily plain water consumption in meal time was (316 ± 247) ml, while it in non-meal time was (773 ± 445) ml with statistically significant difference (Z = 65.2, P < 0.01). There was no significant difference in meal time between plain water (165 ± 194) ml and beverage (151 ± 152) ml (Z = 0.59, P = 0.56) whilst plain water (579 ± 408) ml in non-meal time was significantly higher than beverages (194 ± 204) ml (Z = 64.5, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The amount of drinking water of primary and middle school students in different periods of a day was different in four cities of China.

[Assessment of mitochondrial toxicity induced by zidovudine and adefovir dipivoxil in rats].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the mitochondrial toxicities induced by zidovudine (AZT) and adefovir dipivoxil (ADV) antiviral drugs using a rat model system. METHODS: Twelve healthy Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three equal groups and treated by oral gavage with zidovudine (125 mg/kg/day), adefovir (40 mg/kg/day), or saline (equal volume) for 28 days. The rats' body weights were measured once a week, and blood was collected every two weeks for blood and biochemical tests. All animals were sacrificed at the end of treatment, and liver, kidney, skeletal muscle, and cardiac muscle were collected by necropsy. Mitochondria were isolated from the respective tissue samples, and the activities of respiratory chain complexes were measured. DNA was purified from each sample and the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content was monitored by quantitative real time PCR. Mitochondrial morphology was analyzed under electron microscope. RESULTS: No significant adverse effects, including body weight loss, abnormal blood or biochemistry, were observed in rats treated with AZT or ADV. The activities of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase in liver and cardiac muscle were slightly decreased in rats treated with AZT (liver: 9.44+/-3.09 vs. 17.8+/-12.38, P?=?0.21; cardiac muscle: 32.74+/-5.52 vs. 24.74+/-20.59, P?=?0.28; kidney: 4.42+/-1.53 vs. 14.45+/-13.75, P?=?0.18; skeletal muscle: 33.75+/-8.74 vs. 40.04+/-2.49, P?=?0.45). The mtDNA content was significantly decreased in cardiac muscle of AZT-treated rats (cardiac muscle: 0.15+/-0.13 vs. 0.32+/-0.42, P?=?0.85). The morphology of mitochondria in liver, kidney, skeletal muscle, and cardiac muscle was significantly altered in the AZT-treated rats and included disappearance of the outer membrane, severely damaged structure, and swollen or completely absent cristae. No obvious effects were noted in the ADV- or saline-treated rats. CONCLUSION: Significant adverse effects related to mitochondrial toxicity were observed in rats treated with AZT. The slightly decreased mtDNA content in ADV-treated rats may suggest that this antiviral drug can also cause mitochondrial toxic effects.

Quantitative PCR detection for abalone shriveling syndrome-associated virus.

Haliotis diversicolor (small abalone) is an important seafood found along the southern coast of China. Since 1999, the yields of cultured abalone in China have been severely affected by an epidemic of continuous outbreaks of a fatal disease. A novel double-stranded DNA virus, abalone shriveling syndrome-associated virus (AbSV), was proven to be one of the main causative agent. Although the pathogenicity and genome of AbSV has been ascertained, the epidemiology of AbSV remains to be investigated. In this study, four pairs of AbSV-specific primers were designed on the basis of the AbSV genome, and were tested for their specificities and sensitivities in quantitative real-time PCRs (qPCRs) after optimization of the annealing temperature. The 3F3/3B3 primer pair was finally chosen with a good specificity and high efficiency of amplification, with a detection limit of about 10 copies of recombinant plasmid containing AbSV genes in a 20-µL reaction mixture. In the detection of AbSV in abalone samples along the southern coast of China, most of the diseased samples had more than 80 virus copies in 1ng host genome DNA. AbSV was also demonstrated in mature hybrid (LY) and juvenile (JH) abalones from assays of healthy animals collected in recent years.