The relationship between serum uric acid and metabolic syndrome in premenopausal and postmenopausal women in the Jinchang Cohort.

The aim of the study was to explore the association between serum uric acid (SUA) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in premenopausal and postmenopausal women in the Jinchang Cohort. We studied 3808 female Jinchuan Nonferrous Metals Corporation workers aged 40-60 years. Cohort data from epidemiological surveys and medical exams were used. MetS was defined using the 2009 Joint Interim Society criteria. The relationship between SUA and MetS was evaluated using multiple logistic regression after adjusting for potential confounders. MetS and hyperuricemia were more prevalent in postmenopausal women than premenopausal ones (35.3% versus 15.2% and 9.2% versus 4.2%, respectively). Premenopausal and postmenopausal women with hyperuricemia had 2.81 (95% CI: 1.72-4.61) and 2.10 (95% CI: 1.44-3.08), respectively, times the odds of having MetS than their counterparts without hyperuricemia. Even within normal SUA quartiles, only premenopausal women in the highest and second-highest quartile had 3.57 (95% CI: 2.24-5.68) and 2.78 (95% CI: 1.71-4.50), respectively, times the odds of having MetS than those in the lowest quartile. Even in the normal range, the odds ratios for MetS increased gradually according to SUA levels in all women (Ptrend < 0.001). In conclusion, there was a significant correlation between SUA levels and MetS, and the association was stronger in premenopausal women than postmenopausal ones.

Heavy Metal Assessment among Chinese Nonferrous Metal-exposed Workers from the Jinchang Cohort Study.

Environmental exposure to heavy metals has been linked to a wide range of human health hazards. We detected the levels of 15 metals in urine samples from 500 representative sub-samples in an ongoing occupational cohort study (Jinchang Cohort) to directly evaluate metal exposure levels. Fifteen metals, namely As, Ba, Be, Cd, Cs, Cr, Co, Cu, Pb, Mn, Ni, Se, Tl, U, and Zn, were detected by inductively coupled plasma quadruple mass spectrometry. The results showed that median creatinine adjustment and geometric mean urinary metal levels were higher in the heavy metal-exposed group, except Se and Zn, than other reported general or occupational populations. Further studies should address the effects of heavy metals on human health.

Metal Exposure and Risk of Diabetes and Prediabetes among Chinese Occupational Workers.

OBJECTIVE: To study the association between metal exposure and risk of diabetes and prediabetes among Chinese workers exposed to metals. METHODS: We used data obtained from the baseline survey of the Jinchang Cohort Study of workers in Jinchang Industry, the largest nickel production company in China. A total of 42,122 workers ⋝20 years of age were included in the study. A standardized, structured questionnaire was used to collect epidemiological information. Physical examinations and laboratory tests were conducted to evaluate the health status of the participants and to measure various biomarkers including blood sugar, lipids, and urinary metal concentrations. Logistic regression was used to study the association between occupational groups categorized according to the measured metal levels (office workers, low-level; mining/production workers, mid-level; and smelting/refining workers, high-level) and risk of diabetes and prediabetes. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of diabetes and prediabetes was 7.5% and 16.8%, respectively. The adjusted odds ratios for diabetes among mining/production workers and smelting/refining workers compared to office workers were 1.5 (95% CI: 1.3, 1.7) and 3.8 (95% CI: 3.4, 4.3), respectively. No association was observed between these occupational groups and prediabetes in this study. CONCLUSION: Occupations associated with higher levels of metal exposure were associated with an increased risk of diabetes in this cohort. More studies are needed to confirm this observed association.

Trend Analysis of Cancer Mortality in the Jinchang Cohort, China, 2001-2010.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the baseline data of cancers in the Jinchang Cohort, this paper examined trends in cancer mortality among adults investigated in Jinchang, Gansu province from 2001 to 2010. METHODS: Mortality data were collected from company departments through administrative documents, death certificates, etc. Trend analyses of cancer mortality were performed on the basis of 925 cancer deaths between 2001 and 2010. RESULTS: The crude mortality rate of cancer continuously increased from 161.86 per 100,000 in 2001 to 315.32 per 100,000 in 2010, with an average increase of 7.69% per year in the Jinchang Cohort (16.41% in females compared to 6.04% in males), but the age-standardized mortality rate increased only in females. Thirteen leading cancers accounted for 92.10% of all cancer deaths. The five leading causes of cancer mortality in males were lung, gastric, liver, esophageal, and colorectal cancer, whereas those in females were lung, liver, gastric, breast, and esophageal cancer. CONCLUSION: The overall cancer mortality rate increased from 2001 to 2010 in the Jinchang Cohort, with greater rate of increase in females than in males. Lung, breast, and gastric cancer, in that order, were the leading causes of increased cancer mortality in females.

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Chinese nickel-exposed workers.

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) was investigated in Chinese nickel-exposed workers. A total of 35 104 subjects were enrolled in this study. The age-adjusted prevalence of MS, BMI⋝25, diabetes, hypertension, and abnormal lipid was 13.9%, 29.5%, 12.8%, 27.5%, and 47.1%, respectively. The prevalence of BMI⋝25, hyperglycemia, and hypertension increased with the age of males and females, and was higher in males than in females (37.1% vs 21.5%, 15.9% vs 12.1%, 35.0% vs 24.3%, 54.3% vs 40.4%).

Relationship between the expression of IP-10 and IP-10 mRNA in peripheral blood and HBV DNA level in patients with cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND: Post-hepatitic cirrhosis is regarded as common and severe form of liver damage. Interferon gamma-inducible protein 10 (IP-10), a member of the non-ELR (glutamic-leucine-arginine) motif CXC chemokine family, has recently been shown to recruit and activate specific subsets of leukocytes to sites of inflammation or an immune response during the development of hepatic cirrhosis. However, the effects of IP-10 and IP-10 mRNA on inflammatory infiltration at local sites and in the peripheral blood of patients with post-hepatitic cirrhosis as well as their relationship with viral load are still poorly defined. This study aimed to detect the relationship between the expression of IP-10 in serum, IP-10 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and the levels of HBV DNA in the serum of patients, and to explore their role in the pathogenesis of cirrhosis. METHODS: Typical patients with cirrhosis after HBV infection were selected, and their serum IP-10 concentrations were evaluated with ELISA, the content of IP-10 mRNA in PBMCs was measured by real-time PCR, and the load of HBV DNA in serum and PBMCs was assessed by semi-quantitative analysis of gel imaging. RESULTS: The levels of IP-10 in serum and IP-10 mRNA in PBMCs of patients with cirrhosis were 299.9+/-77.2 pg/ml and 0.7500+/-0.1495, respectively. They were higher than those of controls (P<0.05) and also increased in the HBV DNA(+) groups (P<0.05, P<0.01) to 343.0+/-80.3 pg/ml and 0.8465+/-0.1528, respectively. The levels of IP-10 in serum and IP-10 mRNA in PBMCs were clearly correlated with the load of HBV DNA (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The levels of IP-10 and IP-10 mRNA in the peripheral blood of patients with cirrhosis increase are closely correlated with the load of HBV DNA in serum, and play a key role in the progression of post-hepatitic cirrhosis.

Real-time naive case fatality rates can reflect timeliness of case confirmation during pandemics.

An objective law was observed that naive case fatality rates (CFRs) of a disease will decrease early and then gradually increase infinitely near the true CFR as time went on during an outbreak. The normal growth of naive CFR was an inherent character rather than indicating the disease was becoming more severe. According to the law, by monitoring real-time naive CFRs, it can help outbreak-controllers know if there were many cases left unconfirmed or undiscovered in the outbreak. We reflected on the use of the naive CFR in the context of COVID-19 outbreaks. The results showed that Hubei Province of China, France and South Korea had cases that were not confirmed in a timely manner during the initial stages of the outbreak. Delayed case confirmations existed for long periods of time in France, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Spain. Monitoring of real-time naive CFRs could be helpful for decision-makers to identify under-reporting of cases during pandemics.

Occupational exposure to heavy metals, alcohol intake, and risk of type 2 diabetes and prediabetes among Chinese male workers.

OBJECTIVE: Both exposure to heavy metals and alcohol intake have been related to the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). In this study, we aimed to assess the potential interactions between metal exposure and alcohol intake on the risk of T2D and prediabetes in a cohort of Chinese male workers. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 26,008 Chinese male workers in an occupational cohort study from 2011 to 2013. We assessed metal exposure and alcohol consumption at baseline in these workers who were aged ≥20 years. Based on occupations which were categorized according to measured urine metal levels, multiple logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the independent and joint effects of metal and alcohol exposure on the risk of T2D and prediabetes. RESULTS: Risks of T2D (P trend = 0.001) and prediabetes (P trend = 0.001) were significantly elevated with increasing number of standard drinks per week, years of drinking, and lifetime alcohol consumption. An adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 6.1 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.8-7.8) was observed for the smelting/refining workers (highest metal exposure levels) who had the highest lifetime alcohol consumption (>873 kg) (P interaction = 0.018), whereas no statistically significant joint effect was found for prediabetes (P interaction = 0.515). CONCLUSIONS: Both exposures to metal and heavy alcohol intake were associated with the risk of diabetes in this large cohort of male workers. There was a strong interaction between these two exposures in affecting diabetes risk that needs to be confirmed in future studies.

Liver support therapy with molecular adsorbents recirculating system in liver failure: a summary of 252 cases from 14 centers in China.

BACKGROUND: A liver support therapy, named molecular adsorbents recirculating system (MARS), has been used for more than 700 liver failure patients in China. We made here a summary to evaluate the effects of MARS treatment in different applications with emphasis on hepatitis B virus (HBV) based liver failure. METHODS: This report analyzed data of 252 patients (mean age (44.9+/- 12.7) years) in three groups: acute severe hepatitis (ASH), subacute severe hepatitis (SSH) and chronic severe hepatitis (CSH). The largest group was CSH (156 patients, 61.9%), and 188 patients (74.6%, 188/252) were infected with HBV. RESULTS: MARS treatments were associated with significant reduction of albumin bound toxins and water-soluble toxins. Most of the patients showed a positive response with a significant improvement of multiple organ function substantiated by a significant increase in prothrombin time activity (PTA) and median arterial pressure (MAP). There was a decrease in hepatic encephalopathy (HE) grade and Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) scale. Thirty-nine of 188 HBV patients (20.7%) dropped out of the commendatory consecutive therapy ending with lower survival of 43.6% while the rest of the 149 patients had a survival rate of 62.4%. Survival within the ASH and SSH groups were 81.2% and 75.0%, respectively. In the CSH group, end stage patients were predominant (65/151, 43%), whereas the early and middle stage patients had a better prognosis: early stage survival, including orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) survival of 91.7%, middle stage survival of 75%, end stage survival of 33.8%. CONCLUSIONS: MARS continues to be the most favorable extracorporeal treatment for liver support therapy in China for a wide range of conditions, including the majority of hepatitis B related liver failure conditions. The appropriate application of MARS for the right indications and stage of hepatic failure, as well as the fulfillment of prescribed treatments, will lead to the optimal therapeutic result.

[Kinetics of protein kinase C activities in kidney of fetal rat after intrauterine distress].

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to observe the kinetic changes of protein kinase C (PKC) activities in kidney of fetal rat after intrauterine distress (IUD), and to investigate the roles of PKC in the pathogenesis of kidney impair in IUD of fetal rat. METHODS: SD rats pregnant for 21 days were anesthetized intraabdominally, then one side of vessels of the two horns of uterus were occluded by arterial clamp to make models of intrauterine ischemia, hypoxia (IH) and reperfusion of fetal rat. The fetal rats were divided into IH group (ischemic and hypoxic for 15 min and 30 min, 16 fetal rats for each time point), reperfusion group (ischemic and hypoxic for 30 min, then reperfused for 15 min, 30 min, 45 min, 1 h and 2 h, respectively. 16 fetal rats for each time point) and false operation group (FOG) (18 fetal rats unclamped in the other uterus horn). The kidney tissue was homogenized first, then cell membrane protein and cytoplasmic protein were extracted. Improved Takai method was used to detect the changes of PKC activities of cell membrane and cytoplasma in kidney tissue of fetal rats. RESULTS: (1) PKC activity of cell membrane started to increase after ischemia. The PKC activity of IH group was (5.66 +/- 0.88) pmol.mg(-1).min(-1); FOG was (4.30 + 0.97) pmol.mg(-1).min(-1). The PKC activity of IH group was significantly higher than that of FOG (P < 0.01). PKC activity of cell membrane increased rapidly after reperfusion, reached a peak at 30 min, and then decreased. The PKC activity was (7.26 +/- 0.76) pmol.mg(-1).min(-1) at 15 min, (9.25 +/- 0.94) pmol.mg(-1).min(-1) at 30 min, (8.34 +/- 0.89) pmol.mg(-1).min(-1) at 45 min, (6.57 +/- 0.96) pmol.mg(-1).min(-1) at 1 h, respectively. The PKC activity of reperfusion group was significantly higher than those of FOG (P < 0.01). The PKC activity of reperfusion group was (4.64 +/- 0.96) pmol.mg(-1).min(-1) at 2 h. There was no significant difference compared with that of FOG (P > 0.05). (2) The cytoplasmic PKC activity changed in a tendency opposite to that of the cell membrane PKC activity. In IH group, the PKC activity was (9.74 +/- 1.25) pmol.mg(-1).min(-1) at 15 min, (8.47 +/- 0.84) pmol.mg(-1).min(-1) at 30 min. FOG group was (10.63 +/- 1.92) pmol.mg(-1).min(-1). Reperfusion group reached the lowest PKC activity when reperfused for 30 min, (6.60 +/- 0.94) pmol.mg(-).min(-1), with a significant difference compared with that of FOG (P < 0.01). Then the PKC activity recovered to the level of FOG when reperfused for 2 h, (9.86 +/- 1.00) pmol.mg(-1).min(-1). CONCLUSIONS: After intrauterine ischemia, hypoxia and reperfusion, PKC moves rapidly from cytoplasm to cell membrane in kidney tissue of fetal rat. PKC may be an important intracellular second messenger. It may play an important role in kidney impair in perinatal period.

Effects of RNA interference-induced Smad3 gene silencing on pulmonary fibrosis caused by paraquat in mice.

Paraquat (PQ) poisoning induces many physiological and histological changes in the human body, but PQ-induced pulmonary fibrosis is most often associated with death. The signaling pathway associated with pulmonary fibrosis is reliant on transforming growth factor-beta 1 (tgf-ß(1)) activation of Smad3, as evidenced by Smad3-deficient mice being resistant to tgf-ß(1)-induced pulmonary fibrosis. Thus, we sought to determine whether targeted silencing of Smad3 gene expression could inhibit PQ-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice. We developed an RNA interference (RNAi) method using short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) targeting Smad3. The shRNA expression cassettes capable of effectively silencing Smad3 in L929 mouse fibroblasts were transferred to an adenovirus vector and intratracheally administered into mouse lung. Treated mice presented with inhibited Smad3 mRNA and protein and were resistant to PQ-induced pulmonary fibrosis, as evidenced by suppressed expressions of procollagen type I mRNA and hydroxyproline amino acid. Thus, silencing of Smad3 appears to be a promising alternative strategy for the treatment of PQ-induced pulmonary fibrosis.

[Dynamic prediction on the number of influenza-like cases in Gansu province based on data from the influenza sentinel surveillance program, from 2006 to 2011].

OBJECTIVE: To understand the epidemiological trend on the number of influenza-like cases and to explore the feasibility of early warning systems of influenza in Gansu province. METHODS: Based on data from the influenza sentinel surveillance program, a sequence chart was used to analyze the epidemiological trend on the number of influenza-like illness (ILI) cases. Both control chart and mobile percentile method were used to select the threshold of premium alert for the ILI of sentinel surveillance program. Warning effects were assessed by statistical model. RESULTS: The prevalence of influenza were both low in 2007 and 2008. Alert thresholds for ILI of Sentinel surveillance was built. The thresholds were higher alert in winter, but lower in summer. Both Seasonal Exponential Smoothing Model and Multiplicative Seasonal ARMA Model (1, 1, 1) (0, 1, 0) were used to dynamically predict the weekly percentage of outpatient visits for influenza-like illness (ILI%) of 2011. The concordance rates (predicted = actual) were 100% for both of them. According to the RMSE values, the dynamically predicted effect of the seasonal exponential smoothing model was superior to ARIMA. CONCLUSION: Dynamic prediction on the number of influenza-like cases could reflect the epidemiological trend of influenza in Gansu province, but with some limitations.