The relationship between dyslipidemia and menopausal symptoms in Chinese menopausal women: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship of dyslipidemia and menopausal symptoms in Chinese menopausal women. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 989 eligible participants with menopausal syndrome were recruited from outpatient clinics in several cities in China. Menopausal symptoms were assessed using the Chinese Menopause Rating Scale (CMRS), the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), and the Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS). Serum lipid profile was measured using enzyme colorimetry. The relationship between lipid profile and menopausal symptoms was assessed using Student's t test/nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test, Spearman's correlation test, and binary logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Among the 989 patients, 527 had dyslipidemia while 462 did not. Patients with dyslipidemia had significantly higher Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) scores than those without (p < 0.001), while there was no significant difference in Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) scores. Patients without dyslipidemia had higher scores on the Chinese Menopause Rating Scale (CMRS) vascular dimension compared to those with dyslipidemia (p = 0.003). The correlation test revealed that variables associated with dyslipidemia included age (p = 0.031), CMRS hot flashes dimension score (P = 0.003), and SAS score (p < 0.001). Regression analysis demonstrated that BMI (OR: 1.08, 95% CI: 1.01-1.16, p = 0.027), SAS scores (OR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.07-1.13), vasomotor dimension (OR = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.83-0.95), physical dimension (OR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.93-1.00), and social dimension (OR = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.74-0.95) were independently associated with an increased risk of dyslipidemia. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that anxiety was associated with an unfavorable lipid profile, and menopausal depression seemed to have no relationship with lipid profile, while vasomotor symptoms appeared to be a favorable factor for dyslipidemia in Chinese menopausal women.

Characterization and risk assessment of microplastics in laver from the Yueqing Bay.

Microplastics (MPs) pollution is regarded as a global challenge for ocean. As an important food source of human, macroalgae could suffer MP pollution and transmit MPs into human via food web. However, few studies have revealed the relationship of MP pollution between macroalgae and its habitat. In order to evaluate the trapping and accumulation of MPs in macroalgae and surface water, the present study investigated MP pollution in a typical aquaculture macroalgae species, laver (Porphyra haitanensis) in the Yueqing Bay. The results indicated MP abundance in laver (1.45 ± 0.26 items/g) was at a medium level while MP abundance in surface water (0.21 ± 0.15 item/m3) was at a relatively low level worldwide. Distribution trend and characteristics of MPs in laver and surface water showed highly similarity. Besides, heavy metal elements (Fe and Zr) were detected on the surface of MPs trapped by laver. Pollution load index (PLI) in surface water of the whole bay was low, indicating MP pollution was not serious in the Yueqing Bay. Due to the discharging of domestic sewage in recent years, fiber-shaped, textile MPs accounted for most in laver and surface water of the Yueqing Bay. These results indicated that MPs in surface water could be trapped by P. haitanensis, thus macroalgae cultivation might be a potential way to alleviate seawater MP pollution in the nearshore areas.

Evaluating the biological efficacy of a ballast water management system using filtration and electro-catalysis with an accurate definition of holding time.

We employed a mesoscale experimental system and enriched natural plankton communities to investigate the efficacy of a type of ballast-water management system (BWMS) that uses a combination of filtration and electro-catalysis as the treatment technology. The water samples were collected immediately after treatment and at discharge to measure the biological efficiency of this BWMS. The main hydro chemical parameters, the TRO concentration and the plankton species composition before and after the ballast treatment process, were measured. After treatment, the concentration of TRO remained at a high level of 1.690 ± 0.573 (SD) mg/L. The biological efficacy of ballast water after treatment at holding times of 10 min, 20 min, 30 min, 40 min, and 50 min were measured. Holding time significantly impacted the biological efficacy. The discharged, treated water satisfied the D-2 standard of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) after 50 minutes of holding time.

Bacterial community composition and diversity in the ballast water of container ships arriving at Yangshan Port, Shanghai, China.

Ballast water is a major vector of invasion by protozoans and metazoans. Bacterial invasion is less-well understood. We surveyed the bacterial diversity of ballast water from 26 container ships arriving at the Yangshan Deepwater Port, Shanghai, China during 2015-2016. We characterized the ballast microbiome using high-throughput sequencing (HTS) based on V4-V5 region of 16S rRNA genes. We simultaneously monitored physicochemical parameters of the ballast water, including temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), salinity, turbidity, total suspended solid (TSS), particulate organic carbon (POC), NO2, NH4, PO4. Proteobacteria was the dominant phylum, comprising more than 50% of the OTUs of almost all vessels, followed by Bacteroidetes (12.08%), Actinobacteria (4.86%) Planctomycetes (3.24%) and Cyanobacteria (1.95%). The relative abundance of Cyanobacteria differed among vessels. It was negatively correlated with temperature, NO3, pH, TSS, PO4, and turbidity and positively correlated with NH4, POC. The genus Synechococcus was the most common Cyanobacteria in our results. Escherichia coli were relatively rare; they are indicator-species of D-2 standards published by the IMO. The relative abundance of the genus Vibrio ranged from 0.003% to 24.88% among different vessels. Our results showed that HTS was able to profile the bacterial communities in ballast-waters, even when the approach was restricted by technical and other obstacles.

Effect of Chinese herbal medicine on serum lipids in postmenopausal women with mild dyslipidemia: a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have shown the association between menopause and dyslipidemia. This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of Chinese herbal medicine, tonifying kidney and descending turbidity (TKDT) granule, on serum lipid profiles in postmenopausal women with dyslipidemia. METHODS: A double-blind randomized, placebo-controlled trial was conducted among 104 postmenopausal Chinese women with mild dyslipidemia. Participants were randomized into treatment group (n = 53) and control group (n = 51). The participants in the treatment group received TKDT granule once per day for 24 weeks, whereas the control group received placebo in the same manner. All participants were subjected to healthy lifestyle during the study. Serum lipid profiles, body weight, waist circumference, and safety indicators were measured both at baseline and 24 weeks after admission. RESULTS: Compared with placebo, significant improvements in total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoprotein-B (Apo-B), weight, and waist circumference in the TKDT group (P < 0.05) were observed after 24 weeks of treatment. Total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and Apo-B were decreased by 0.84 (0.77) mmol/L, 0.72 (0.77) mmol/L, and 0.12 (0.27) mmol/L, mean ±â€ŠSD respectively. The weight, waist circumference, and body mass index were decreased by 4.07 (3.01) kg, 3.10 (2.95) cm, 1.60 (1.13), respectively. There were no significant differences in triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and Apo-A between the two groups. Seven participants in the treatment group and six participants in the placebo group had mild or moderate adverse reactions. CONCLUSION: TKDT granule improved the lipid profile and reduced the related metabolic abnormalities in postmenopausal women with mild dyslipidemia based on lifestyle changes.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the Ctenophore Beroe cucumis, a mitochondrial genome showing rapid evolutionary rates.

We described the complete mitochondrial genome of the Ctenophore Beroe cucumis, which is a circular molecule of 10,487 bp in length. The new mitochondrial genome comprised only 12 genes, making it one of the smallest animals' mtDNA. Both nucleotide substitution and gene order rearrangements exhibited extreme high evolutionary rate in mitogenomes of Ctenophore. The phylogenetic analysis based on mitogenomics failed to reveal the basal position of Ctenophore within metazoan, owing to the extreme evolutionary rate. Based on the available Ctenophora mitogenomes, we found the optimized primers designed by Geller et al. for DNA barcoding suited for the taxon.

Abdominal acupuncture for insomnia in women: a randomized controlled clinical trial.

A randomized single-blind trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of short-term abdominal acupuncture as a novel treatment for insomnia in Chinese women. Forty-four patients between the ages of 22 and 56 were randomly assigned to an acupuncture (n = 23) and a medication group (n = 21). The acupuncture group received abdominal acupuncture once a day for the first three days and once every three days for the remaining 11 days. In addition, every subject in acupuncture group also received a placebo pill once daily. Abdominal acupuncture was administered according to a standardized protocol involving four master and four adjunctive acupoints: Zhongwan (CV 12), Xiawan (CV 10), Guanyuan (CV 4), and Qihai (CV 6); bilateral Shangqu (KI 17), Huaroumen (ST 24), Xiafengshidian, and Qipang. Subjects in the medication group were treated with sham acupuncture at the same time as the acupuncture group and received estazolam once a day. The outcome measure was the Leeds Sleep Evaluation Questionnaire (LSEQ), administered before and after the trial. Subjects who received abdominal acupuncture lowered their LSEQ scores by an average of 26.32 points (95% CI: 37.34, 15.30). After controlling for potential confounding factors, the effect of abdominal acupuncture in relieving insomnia was still statistically significant. Results indicate that short-term abdominal acupuncture is more effective than pharmacological treatment for relieving insomnia in adult women and has few adverse effects.

[Expression of coagulation factor IX gene mediated by human source vector pHrnF9 in intestinal epithelial sw480 cells].

The objective of this study was to explore the feasibility of intestinal epithelial cell and human source vector used in gene therapy for hemophilia B. The intestinal epithelial sw480 cells were transfected with human source vector plasmid pHrnF9 which contained human coagulation factor IX gene. Transcription of its mRNA were measured by RT-PCR. The transfection efficiency were observed under fluorescence microscope. The expression of its protein and coagulant activities in the transfected sw480 cells were measured by ELISA and one-stage method. The results showed that the expression of hFIX mRNA could be detected after transfection. The transfection efficiency reached to the maximum at 48 hour. The hFIX protein amount was 11.3 +/- 0.23 ng/(10(6) cells.24 h) at 24 hours after transfection and reached to 29.34 +/- 1.00 ng/(10(6) cells.24 h) at 48 hours and decreased to 12.45 +/- 0.15 ng/(10(6) cells.24 hr) at 72 hours. Sw480 cells transfected with pHrnF9 were capable of producing hFIX with coagulant activity. The coagulant activity reached to (6.07 +/- 0.17)%/10(6) cells at 48 hours and decreased to 1.81 +/- 0.06%/10(6) cells at 72 hours. It is concluded that the sw480 cells transfected with pHrnF9 plasmid can express hFIX with coagulant activity, the intestinal epithelial cells may become target cells in the gene therapy for hemophilia B.

[Effects of Guben Hutan Tongmai Recipe on expressions of macrophages and cell adhesion molecules of aortic endothelia in rats with syndrome of phlegm blocking blood vessel].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of Guben Huatan Tongmai Recipe (GBHTTMR), a compound Chinese herbal recipe, on expressions of macrophages and cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) of aortic endothelia in rats with syndrome of phlegm blocking blood vessel, and to explore the pathogenesis of the phlegm-pathogen. METHODS: Fifty normal male Wistar rats, 7-week in age, were randomly divided into five groups: normal control group, untreated group, high-dose GBHTTMR-treated group, low-dose GBHTTMR-treated group and simvastatin-treated group, with 10 rats in each group. Syndrome of phlegm blocking blood vessel was induced in rats of the latter 4 groups by feeding the rats with high lipid diet. Levels of blood lipid were compared among the 5 groups. The expressions of macrophages and CAMs in aortic endothelia were tested by immunohistochemical staining method. RESULTS: The level of blood lipid, and the expressions of macrophages and CAMs showed statistical differences between the normal control group and the untreated group (P<0.01), and between the untreated group and the low-, high-dose GBHTTMR-treated and simvastatin-treated groups as well (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: GBHTTMR can decrease the level of serum cholesterol and triglycerides, and increase the level of high density lipoprotein. It also can inhibit the expressions of macrophages, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, P-selectin, and E-selectin.

[On clinical application and assessment of Menopause-Specific Quality of Life (Chinese Version)].

OBJECTIVE: To introduce Menopause-Specific Quality of Life (MENQOL) into China, and to evaluate the quality of its Chinese Version. METHODS: MENQOL was translated into Chinese language and the reverse translation was done by several specialists. After retest study on 30 cases, validity, reliability and responsiveness were implemented in 409 cases with menopause syndrome in the multicenter study. RESULTS: 7 components were extracted in factor analysis, and the total cumulative contribution was 59.476%. By correlation analysis, 7 components were divided into four domains: vasomotor, psychosocial, physical and sexual items, same as in the English Version. The test-retest reliability of four domains were 0.806, 0.804, 0.941, 0.940 respectively. Cronbach alpha of four domains were 0.7258, 0.8234, 0.8475, 0.8641 respectively. There had been significant changes after treatment noticed. CONCLUSION: The measurement properties of MENQOL-Chinese Version including effectueness, reliability were met with satisfaction and seemed to be adaptable to Chinese menopause women.