Arginase 1 and L-arginine coordinate fetal lung development and the initiation of labor in mice.

Fetal development and parturition are precisely regulated processes that involve continuous crosstalk between the mother and the fetus. Our previous discovery that wild-type mice carrying steroid receptor coactivator (Src)-1 and Src-2 double-deficient fetuses exhibit impaired lung development and delayed labor, which indicates that the signals for parturition emanate from the fetus. In this study, we perform RNA sequencing and targeted metabolomics analyses of the lungs from fetal Src-1/-2 double-knockout mice and find that expression of arginase 1 (Arg1) is significantly decreased, accompanied by increased levels of the Arg1 substrate L-arginine. Knockdown of Arg1 in the lungs of fetal mice induces apoptosis of epithelial cells and dramatically delays initiation of labor. Moreover, treatment of human myometrial smooth muscle cells with L-arginine significantly inhibits spontaneous contractions by attenuating activation of NF-κB and downregulating expression of contraction-associated protein genes. Transcription factors GR and C/EBPß increase transcription of Arg1 in an Src-1/Src-2-dependent manner. These findings provide new evidence that fetus-derived factors may play dual roles in coordinating fetal lung development and the initiation of labor.

Dual Versus Mono Antiplatelet Therapy in Patients with Acute Mild-to-Moderate Stroke: A Multicentre Perspective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between different antiplatelet therapy regimens and the functional outcomes and bleeding complications among mild-to-moderate ischaemic stroke patients based on real-world data. METHODS: We used data from the SEACOAST trial (Safety and efficacy of aspirin-clopidogrel in acute noncardiogenic minor ischaemic stroke) to analyse the data of patients with mild-to-moderate stroke within 72 h after onset who were treated with aspirin or clopidogrel alone or a combination of clopidogrel and aspirin from September 2019 to November 2021. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to balance the differences between groups. We performed an analysis to evaluate the association of different antiplatelet regimens and 90-day disability, which was defined as a modified Rankin Scale score ≥2, as well as disability ascribed to index or recurrent stroke by the local investigator. In terms of safety, we then compared the bleeding events between the two groups. RESULTS: A total of 2822 mild-to-moderate ischaemic stroke patients were treated with either clopidogrel plus aspirin (n = 1726, 61.2%) or aspirin/clopidogrel (n = 1096, 38.8%). Of 1726 patients in the dual antiplatelet group, 1350 (78.5%) received less than or equal to 30 days of combined therapy. At 90 days, 433 (15.3%) patients were disabled. Patients who received combined therapy had a lower overall disability rate (13.7% versus 17.9%; OR 0.78 (0.6-1.01); P = 0.064). However, investigators found that index stroke was the reason for significantly fewer patients in the dual antiplatelet group having disability (8.4% versus 12%; OR, 0.72 (0.52-0.98); P = 0.038). There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of moderate to severe bleeding complications between the dual and mono antiplatelet drug regimens (0.4% versus 0.2%; HR 1.5 (0.25, 8.98); P = 0.657). CONCLUSION: Aspirin plus clopidogrel was associated with a reduction in the incidence of disability attributed to index stroke. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of moderate to severe bleeding complications between the two antiplatelet drug regimens. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ChiCTR1900025214.

Associations of adverse childhood experiences with common psychiatric disorder in later life: results from the China mental health survey.

BACKGROUND: Associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and common psychiatric disorders among older Chinese individuals have not been well reported. The objectives of this study are to examine the prevalence of ACEs and the associations of ACEs with common psychiatric disorders among older adults in China. METHODS: The study used data from the China Mental Health Survey (CMHS), a nationally representative epidemiological survey, which used computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI), logistic regression models were used to examine community-based adult psychiatric disorders and associated risk factors. Finally, 2,317 individuals aged 60 years or over were included in the CMHS. The national prevalence of ACEs in older adults were estimated and logistic regression were used to analyse the association between ACEs and past-year psychiatric disorders. RESULTS: Prevalence of ACEs among older adults in China was 18.1%. The three most common types of ACEs were neglect (11.6%), domestic violence (9.2%), and parental loss (9.1%). This study proved the association between ACEs and common past-year psychiatric disorders in older adults. ACEs increased the risk of past-year psychiatric disorders in older adults. After adjustment for age, sex, marital status, employment status, education, rural or urban residence, region, and physical diseases, the association between ACEs and past-year psychiatric disorders were still significant. CONCLUSIONS: ACEs are linked to an increased risk for past-year psychiatric disorders in older adults. ACEs may have long-term effects on older adults' mental well-being. Preventing ACEs may help reduce possible adverse health outcomes in later life.

Tea polyphenols and catechins postpone evolution of antibiotic resistance genes and alter microbial community under stress of tetracycline.

Relying on the high mobility of water flow, the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the water tends to be exacerbated and enlarged. It caused negative impacts on a wider scope of the environment. The ARGs dissemination monitoring and the methods efficiently reducing their concentration in water became the focus of interest. Green chemicals with antibacterial effects such as tea polyphenols (TPs) and catechins (CA) have been considered as auxiliary disinfectants for ARGs removal in the water environment. However, the antibacterial performance of TPs and CA under the stress of external antibiotics still lacks sufficient research. The results show that more operational taxonomic units can be observed in water samples with TPs and CA than in those without the ingredients under pressure of tetracycline. An unexpected increase along with the increase of ARGs concentrations and the diversity of microbial communities under the low-concentration TPs or CA (1 mg/L). Besides, under the stress of tetracycline, the inhibition of TPs was detected to be strengthened for increase of inti1 and tetC but weakened towards for the increase of tetA. Whilst CA substantially diminished abundances of tetC and tetA under tetracycline pressure. This research demonstrated that TPs and CA are able to assuage development of ARGs under the pressure of antibiotic in water system.

Ultraviolet light induces HERV expression to activate RIG-I signalling pathway in keratinocytes.

Skin inflammation and photosensitivity are common in lupus erythematosus (LE) patients, and ultraviolet (UV) light is a known trigger of skin and possibly systemic inflammation in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) patients. Type I interferons (IFN) are upregulated in LE skin after UV exposure; however, the mechanisms to explain UVB-induced inflammation remain unclear. Here, we demonstrated that UVB irradiation-induced activation of human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) plays a major role in the immune response. UVB-induced HERV-associated dsRNA transcription and subsequent activation of the innate antiviral RIG-I/MDA5/IRF7 pathway led to downstream transcription of interferon-stimulated genes, which promotes UVB-induced apoptosis and proliferation inhibition in keratinocytes through RIG-I and MDA5 pathways. Our findings indicate that UVB irradiation induces HERV-dsRNA overexpression, and the dsRNA-sensing innate immunity pathway promotes type I IFN production, which may be a potential mechanism of skin inflammatory response and skin lesion of SLE/DLE.

[Transcriptome analysis in fetal lungs of SRC1/SRC2 double-knockout mice].

Steroid receptor coactivators (SRCs) significantly increase the transcriptional activity of various steroid hormone receptors, and play an important regulatory role in a variety of physiological functions such as food intake, sleep, stress response and reproduction. Previous studies have found that pregnant mice carrying fetuses with SRC1/2 double-knockout (dKO) manifested delayed labor, partly due to the hypoplasia of fetal lungs and the decreased secretion of pulmonary surfactant protein-A (SP-A) and platelet activating factor (PAF). However, there is still a lack of systematic analysis of the changes in gene expression at the whole transcriptome level in the fetal lungs of SRC1/2 dKO mice. In this study, the SRC1KO, SRC2KO, SRC1/2 dKO and wild-type (WT) mouse fetal lung samples were collected at 18.5 days post coitus. The Illumina platform was employed for transcriptome mRNA sequencing, and then the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were annotated and analyzed by GO and KEGG analysis. The results showed that the proportion of quality score of the sequencing data above Q30 in all samples was more than 92% and passed the quality control. Compared with WT fetal lungs, SRC1KO and SRC2KO fetal lungs had 61 and 32 DEGs, respectively; SRC1/2 dKO fetal lungs had 480, 11 and 901 DEGs compared with WT, SRC1KO and SRC2KO fetal lungs, respectively. Among these genes, Aspg, Crispld2, Eln, Ntsr2, Slc10a6 and Vgll3 were the unique DEGs of SRC1/2 dKO fetal lungs compared with other genotype mice. Real-time PCR and Western blotting verified the reliability of transcriptome sequencing results. The GO analysis of the DEGs between SRC1/2 dKO and WT mouse fetal lungs showed that the DEGs were significantly enriched in the extracellular space, extracellular region, and extracellular matrix in terms of cellular component. In the biological process, they were significantly enriched in the term of development of multiple organs. KEGG pathway analysis showed that the DEGs were mainly enriched in signaling pathways such as the complement system, extracellular matrix-receptor interactions, and protein digestion and absorption. In summary, this study comprehensively revealed the changes of gene expression in the fetal lungs of SRC1/2 dKO mice at the transcriptome level, which provides a new theoretical basis for the study of the developmental regulatory mechanism of the fetal lung during pregnancy, and the fetus-derived signals that affect the initiation of labor.

Asenic removal from groundwater using granular chitosan-titanium adsorbent.

Arsenic (As) contamination poses an urgent environmental risk, and its removal from groundwater remains a challenge due to the lack of efficient adsorbents. Herein, a novel granular chitosan-titanium (CS-Ti) adsorbent was fabricated by the sol-gel method. Batch experiments show that As(V) adsorption on CS-Ti followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, and the adsorption isotherm conformed to the Freundlich model with the correlation coefficient of 0.99. In situ FTIR spectra revealed that the CS-Ti adsorbent was composed of amorphous TiOx and chitosan by forming C-O-Ti and N-Ti bonds, and the amorphous TiOx was responsible for As(V) adsorption. Rapid small-scale column tests show that 165.6 µg/L of As in groundwater were effectively removed in approximately 126-bed volumes, and the spent adsorbents were regenerated with 0.01 mol/L NaOH and maintained the adsorption efficiency after four cycles. This study provides a simple and practical route to fabricate adsorbents for water treatment.

Decreased 11ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1 in lungs of steroid receptor coactivator (Src)-1/-2 double-deficient fetal mice is caused by impaired glucocorticoid and cytokine signaling.

Our previous research revealed that steroid receptor coactivators (Src)-1 and -2 serve a critical cooperative role in production of parturition signals, surfactant protein A and platelet-activating factor, by the developing mouse fetal lung (MFL). To identify the global landscape of genes in MFL affected by Src-1/-2 double-deficiency, we conducted RNA-seq analysis of lungs from 18.5 days post-coitum (dpc) Src-1-/- /-2-/- (dKO) vs. WT fetuses. One of the genes most highly downregulated (~4.8 fold) in Src-1/-2 dKO fetal lungs encodes 11ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11ß-HSD1), which catalyzes conversion of inactive 11-dehydrocorticosterone to the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) ligand, corticosterone. Glucocorticoids were reported to upregulate 11ß-HSD1 expression in various cell types via induction of C/EBP transcription factors. We observed that C/ebpα and C/ebpß mRNA and protein were markedly reduced in Src-1/-2 double-deficient (Src-1/-2d/d ) fetal lungs, compared to WT. Moreover, glucocorticoid induction of 11ß-hsd1, C/ebpα and C/ebpß in cultured MFL epithelial cells was prevented by the SRC family inhibitor, SI-2. Cytokines also contribute to the induction of 11ß-HSD1. Expression of IL-1ß and TNFα, which dramatically increased toward term in lungs of WT fetuses, was markedly reduced in Src-1/-2d/d fetal lungs. Our collective findings suggest that impaired lung development and surfactant synthesis in Src-1/-2d/d fetuses are likely caused, in part, by decreased GR and cytokine induction of C/EBP and NF-κB transcription factors. This results in reduced 11ß-HSD1 expression and glucocorticoid signaling within the fetal lung, causing a break in the glucocorticoid-induced positive feedforward loop.

Cytotoxic and Anti-Inflammatory Sesquiterpenes from the Whole Plants of Centipeda minima.

Sixteen new sesquiterpene lactones (1-16) along with 13 known analogues (17-29) were isolated from the whole plants of Centipeda minima. The structures of 1-16 were delineated by the combination of NMR spectroscopic experiments, HRESIMS, single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses, and ECD spectra. Compounds 23-26 showed potent cytotoxicity against Hela, HCT-116, and HepG2 cells with IC50 values of 0.8-2.6, 0.4-3.3, and 1.1-2.6 µM, respectively. Compounds 8, 15, and 24 exhibited significant inhibitory activity on the production of nitric oxide in the lipopolysaccharide-activated RAW 264.7 mouse macrophage cell line, with IC50 values ranging from 0.1 to 0.2 µM.

Association of GCKR Gene Polymorphisms with Metabolic Syndrome in a Han Population from Northeast China.

BACKGROUND: As a serious public universal health issue, metabolic syndrome (MetS) has a high prevalence world-wide. Some studies illustrated that GCKR modulated insulin action and serum lipids are critical diagnostic criteria of MetS. The goal of this study is to investigate the association between GCKR polymorphisms with metabolic syndrome (MetS) in a Han population from northeast China. METHODS: Four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs, rs1260326, rs8179206, rs780094, and rs2293571) were genotyped in 3,754 participants. MetS was defined according to International Diabetes Federation criteria (2009). Genotype and allele frequency distributions were compared between two groups by chi-squared test. The associations of the four SNPs under different genetic models with MetS were tested by multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, gender, location, education, occupation alcohol consumption, and smoking. p-values of no more than 0.003125 [0.05/(4 SNPs*4 different genetic models)] after Bonferroni correction were considered statistically significant. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) and haplotype analysis were evaluated by the Haploview software (version 4.2) and SNPStats program. RESULTS: Logistic regression analysis revealed that after Bonferroni correction, rs780094 was associated with MetS under the recessive model (p = 0.002). Weak LD was found for the four SNPs, and the CAGC haplotype appeared to be significantly decreased the risk of MetS (p = 0.026, OR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.79 - 0.98). CONCLUSIONS: GCKR rs780094 was associated with MetS in northeast Han population, and haplotype CAGC generated by rs1260326, rs8179206, rs780094, and rs2293571 may decrease the risk of the disease.

Association of MAD1L1 polymorphism (rs871925) with prenatal famine exposure and schizophrenia in a Chinese population: A case-control study.

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a complex, frequently disabling psychiatric disorder. Prenatal exposure to famine, an environmental factor, plays a significant role in the cause of SCZ. We used DNA methylation related sites to analyze their association with prenatal famine exposure and SCZ risk in a Northeast Han Chinese population. A total of 967 subjects (446 patients with SCZ/521 health controls) were recruited. Five single-nucleotide polymorphisms (rs2300149 in ITIH1, rs2675956 in NGEF, rs3758543 in NT5C2, rs7003288 in NA, and rs871925 in MAD1L1) were selected and genotyped. Genotype distribution and allele frequency analysis indicated that rs871925 was significantly associated with SCZ. We also found a significant association between prenatal exposure to famine and rs871925 in the recessive model in the health control group. The generalized multifactor dimensionality reduction analysis suggested a five-locus interaction model association with the risk of developing SCZ. Our data suggested that MAD1L1 rs871925 was associated with prenatal famine exposure and SCZ susceptibility in a Northeast Han Chinese population.

Profiling of schizophrenia-associated serum peptides by MALDI-TOF-MS.

Schizophrenia is a psychiatric condition characterized by poor prognosis and severe symptoms that decrease the quality of life of patients. It is therefore important to develop rapid and reliable methods for early diagnosis. To achieve this aim, identification of accurate biomarkers will promote research into the mechanisms of schizophrenia and the design of effective diagnosis tools. Discriminative peptides in the serum of participants (277 schizophrenia patients and 294 healthy controls) were detected using the matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). The diagnostic model for schizophrenia was validated using the ClinProTool software. Discrimination models were tested in the training set (200 schizophrenia patients and 200 healthy controls), and the robustness of the models was evaluated using the independent test set (77 cases and 94 controls). A total of 77 peaks were significantly different between schizophrenia patients and healthy controls with a signal-to-noise ratio of over 5. Among them, 35 peptides were down-regulated and 42 peptides were up-regulated in schizophrenia patients. With a cross-validation rate of 92.7% and a recognition capability rate of 96.5%, the supervised neural network comprising 25 discriminative peaks was found to be the most efficient model for schizophrenia diagnosis (sensitivity = 96.10%, specificity = 94.68%). Peptides at m/z = 2022.18 corresponded to complement C3f, and peptides at m/z = 1020.89, 1351.02, 1466.1 were identified as fragments of fibrinopeptide A. These two peptides may be potential biomarkers for schizophrenia in the Chinese population. The serum peptide levels present a potential clinical diagnostic tool for schizophrenia.

Social-biological influences on sleep duration among adult residents of Northeastern China.

BACKGROUND: Cold climates traditionally have conferred long sleep duration in the residents in northeast China; however, modern lifestyle reduces sleep duration. In this study, we investigated social-biological factors influencing sleep duration in the adult residents in northeast China. METHODS: This study was performed using data from the Investigation of Chronic Disease Morbidity Rate and Risk Factors of Adults in Jilin Province, China. Associations between sleep duration and indices of demographic characteristics, health-related behaviors, and disease history in adult residents were analyzed using univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The mean sleep duration was 7.24 h. Of the 21,435 participants, approximately 53.4% had short sleep duration (sleep duration per day < 7 h), and 10.5% had long sleep duration (sleep duration per day > 9 h). There were associations between short sleep duration and indices, including age, place of residence, marital status, educational level, alcohol drinking, dietary, obesity, and history of coronary heart disease (CHD) or myocardial infarction (MI). There existed associations of long sleep duration with indices, such as age, place of residence, occupation, educational level, average monthly earnings, and physical exercise. CONCLUSION: Short sleep duration is common among residents in northeast China. Age, place of residence, and educational level are implicated in both short sleep duration and long sleep duration. Short sleep duration inclines to link with the indices (marital status, alcohol drinking, dietary, obesity, and history of CHD or MI). However, long sleep duration is relevant to the indices (occupation, average monthly earnings, and physical exercise).

Fibrinogen and Kininogen are Potential Serum Protein Biomarkers for Depressive Disorder.

BACKGROUND: Depressive disorder is a debilitating psychiatric mental disease. However, no biological methods are used for the diagnosis of this disorder. Proteomic approaches for biomarker discovery may provide an important objective tool for diagnostics of depression. This study aimed to identify serum protein biomarkers for diagnosis of depressive disorder. METHODS: We screened for potential depression biomarkers in 175 serum samples from 86 patients and 89 healthy controls. Serum protein spectrums were detected by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Differentially expressed peptides among the two groups were analyzed and followed by sequence analysis to identify these peptides. RESULTS: Five peaks were found to have a significant different between the depression and healthy control groups. Among them, up-regulated m/z 1,466.21 and down-regulated m/z 1,944.99 are identified as the fractions of fibrinogen alpha chain and kininogen 1, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Fibrinogen and kininogen may be potential serum protein biomarkers in the diagnosis and prognosis of depressive disorders.

Effects of modified carbon black nanoparticles on plant-microbe remediation of petroleum and heavy metal co-contaminated soils.

Little is known about the effect of modified carbon black nanoparticles (MNCB) on the availability of heavy metals and petroleum degradation in petroleum and heavy metals co-contaminated soils. The overall objective of this study was to investigate the simultaneous effect of MNCB on heavy metal immobilization and petroleum biodegradation in co-contaminated soil in plant and plant-microbe combined remediation. The results showed that the petroleum degradation increased by 50% in petroleum-Cd co-contaminated soil and 65% in petroleum-Ni co-contaminated soil in plant-microbe combined remediation, comparing with the plant remediation and the application of MNCB did not show significant improvement on petroleum degradation in both plant and plant-microbe combined remediation. MNCB could significantly reduce the availability of heavy metals in soil and the uptakes of Cd and Ni by Suaeda salsa by roughly 18 and 10% and improve the growth of plant by alleviating the growth inhibition caused by heavy metals. The application of Bacillus subtilis and Sphingobacterium multivorum (heavy metal tolerant bacteria) inhibited the biomass of Suaeda salsa by enhancing the petroleum degradation. It could be concluded that MNCB played a major role in immobilizing the heavy metals and bacteria dominated the petroleum degradation in petroleum-metal co-contaminated soil.

Association Between Polymorphisms of the Complement 3 Gene and Schizophrenia in a Han Chinese Population.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder, and complement 3 (C3) is closely related to schizophrenia. We investigated the association between C3 polymorphisms and schizophrenia in a Northeast Han Chinese population. METHODS: A total of 2240 Chinese people, consisting of 1086 patients with schizophrenia and 1154 healthy controls, were recruited for this study. Ten single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; rs11569562, rs344555, rs2241393, rs2241392, rs11569514, rs445750, rs451760, rs11672613, rs2230205, and rs2250656) in C3 were selected and genotyped. RESULTS: Genotype distribution analysis indicated that rs11569514 was significantly associated with schizophrenia. In the dominant model (AA vs. GG+GA genotypes), we found a significant protective effect for rs344555 against schizophrenia (odds ratio [OR]: 0.72, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.53-0.99, P = 0.04). In the codominant model (TT vs. AA), we found a significant risk effect for rs11569514 on schizophrenia (OR: 4.39, 95% CI: 2.06-9.37, P < 0.001). Haplotypes, including TG (rs11569562 and rs344555), TGG (rs11569562-rs344555-rs2241393), AG (rs344555-rs2241393), CGGGT (rs11569562-rs344555-rs2241393-rs2241392-rs11569514), and ACGTG (rs11569514-rs445750-rs451760-rs11672613-rs2230205), showed either a risk or protective role for schizophrenia. CONCLUSIONS: SNP rs11569514 in C3 and haplotypes of C3 variants were associated with schizophrenia in a Han Chinese population.

Genetic association between SHANK2 polymorphisms and susceptibility to autism spectrum disorder.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as one of early-onset neurodevelopmental disorders, is characterized by the following symptoms, including repetitive and stereotyped behaviors, impairments in social interaction, and dysfunctions in communication. ASD afflicts ∼1.5% of children aged 8 years in America and ∼4.5‰ of children aged 0-6 years in China. Existing studies suggest that SH3 and multiple ankyrin repeat domains protein 2 (SHANK2) is implicated in ASD. However, associations between SNPs in SHANK2 introns and ASD risk have been less investigated. In this study, on the basis of case-control study (226 cases and 239 controls), we selected nine SNPs (rs76717360, rs11236697, rs74336682, rs77950809, rs17428526, rs35459123, rs75357229, rs61887413, and rs77716438) in SHANK2 introns to investigate genetic associations between SHANK2 polymorphisms and susceptibility to ASD using improved multiple ligase detection reaction (iMLDR). We identified that the polymorphism of rs76717360 was associated with risk of ASD in Chinese population; the haplotype of rs11236697 C (T) or rs74336682 G (A) increased ASD risk; and haplotypes with ≥ five SNPs containing rs11236697 and rs74336682 were associated with risk of ASD. Our results indicate SHANK2 is a susceptibility gene for ASD in Chinese children. © 2018 IUBMB Life, 70(8):763-776, 2018.

Antimony Redox Biotransformation in the Subsurface: Effect of Indigenous Sb(V) Respiring Microbiota.

Anaerobic microbiological antimonate [Sb(V)] respiration is a newly discovered process regulating the Sb redox transformation in soils. However, little is known about the role microbiological Sb(V) respiration plays in the fate of Sb in the subsurface, especially in the presence of sulfate and electron shuttles. Herein, we successfully enriched a Sb(V) reducing microbiota (SbRM) from the subsurface near an active Sb mine. SbRM was dominated by genus Alkaliphilus (18-36%), Clostridiaceae (17-18%), Tissierella (24-27%), and Lysinibacillus (16-37%). The incubation results showed that SbRM reduced 88% of dissolved Sb(V) to Sb(III), but the total Sb mobility remained the same as in the abiotic control, indicating that SbRM alone did not increase the total Sb release but regulated the Sb speciation in the subsurface. Micro X-ray fluorescence (µ-XRF) analysis suggested the association of Sb and Fe, and electron shuttles such as anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonic disodium salt (AQDS) markedly enhanced the Sb release due to its ability to facilitate Fe mineral dissolution. Sb L-edge and S K-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) results demonstrated that indigenous SbRM immobilized Sb via Sb2S3 formation, especially in a sulfur-rich environment. The insights gained from this study shed new light on Sb mobilization and its risk assessment in the subsurface environment.

PREVALENCE AND RISK FACTORS OF IMPAIRED FASTING GLUCOSE AMONG ADULTS IN NORTHEAST CHINA: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of impaired fasting glucose (IFG) among adults in northeast China. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Jilin Province in 2012. Questionnaires were used to collect information about demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, and health status from 15,540 residents. Fasting blood glucose (FBG) was measured in the morning after at least 12 hours of fasting, and χ2 tests were performed to compare differences between subjects with and without IFG. Logistic regression was carried out to identify factors influencing IFG occurrence. RESULTS: There were significant differences in demographic characteristics (age, sex, education, and marriage status), lifestyle factors (smoking, drinking, physical activity, and average sleep duration), and health status (hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and BMI category) between subjects with IFG and without IFG ( P<.05). IFG risk was significantly associated with sex, age, education (senior high school and college), marriage status (single), drinking, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and BMI category (all P<.05). CONCLUSION: In adults in northeast China, risk factors of IFG are sex, age, education (senior high school and college), drinking, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and BMI category; however, the protective factor of IFG is marriage status (single). ABBREVIATIONS: BMI = body mass index; CI = confidence interval; FBG = fasting blood glucose; IFG = impaired fasting glucose; OR = odds ratio; T2DM = type 2 diabetes.

Feasibility of anthropometric indices to identify dyslipidemia among adults in Jilin Province: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Dyslipidemia and other cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors have a strong association with obesity. Anthropometric indices have been widely used to evaluate obesity in clinical and epidemiological studies. We aim to investigate association between serum lipid levels and different anthropometric indices. METHODS: Our study included 17,554 participants. We mainly investigated area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curves and optimal operating points (OOPs) between the anthropometric indices and serum lipid levels or categories of abnormal serum lipid indices. RESULTS: For predicting one/two categories of abnormal serum lipid indices among the anthropometric indices, AUROC value of WC was the highest in men (0.718), and AUROC values of BRI and WHtR were the highest in women (0.700 and 0.700) (all P < 0.001); OOP of WC was 82.450 in men; OOPs of BRI and WHtR were 3.435 and 0.504 in women. For predicting three/more categories of abnormal serum lipid indices among the anthropometric indices, AUROC value of WC was the highest in men (0.806), and AUROC values of BRI and WHtR were the highest in women (0.783 and 0.783) (all P < 0.001); OOP of WC was 84.150 in men; OOPs of BRI and WHtR were 3.926 and 0.529 in women. CONCLUSIONS: WC was a good predictor for one/two or three/more categories of abnormal serum lipid indices in men. However, BRI and WHtR were good predictors for one/two or three/more categories of abnormal serum lipid indices in women. ABSI showed the weakest predictive power.