Bifunctional role of PDMS membrane in designing humidity-tolerant H2S chemiresistors with high selectivity.

A thermally evaporated hydrophobic PDMS membrane could significantly mitigate humidity interference/poisoning (without a decline in response at 50% RH for nearly 3 months) and enhance the selectivity of a CuCrO2 chemiresistor toward erosive H2S, offering an avenue for the practical applications of (H2S) chemiresistors in an ambient humid air atmosphere.

An "off-on" fluorescent sensor for copper ion using graphene quantum dots based on oxidation of l-cysteine.

A simple and highly efficient "off-on" fluorescent sensor based on grapheme quantum dots (GQDs) for Cu2+ was developed. In this sensing platform, the fluorescence of GQDs was quenched in the presence of 2,4-dinitrophenylcysteine (DNPC), which is the reaction product of 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) and l-cysteine, owing to the spectral overlap between the absorption of DNPC and the excitation of GQDs. In the presence of Cu2+, l-cysteine was catalytically oxidized to l-cystine by O2, resulting in the reduction of DNPC. Thus, the fluorescence of GQDs was recovery. Based on this, the fluorescent detection of Cu2+ could be achieved. The proposed sensing strategy offered a selective identification of Cu2+ with a detection limit of 4.5 nM. Additionally, the practical application of this assay for Cu2+ determination in real water samples was also demonstrated.

The changes of immunoglobulin G N-glycosylation in blood lipids and dyslipidaemia.

BACKGROUND: Alternative N-glycosylation has significant structural and functional consequences on immunoglobulin G (IgG) and can affect immune responses, acting as a switch between pro- and anti-inflammatory IgG functionality. Studies have demonstrated that IgG N-glycosylation is associated with ageing, body mass index, type 2 diabetes and hypertension. METHODS: Herein, we have demonstrated patterns of IgG glycosylation that are associated with blood lipids in a cross-sectional study including 598 Han Chinese aged 20-68 years. The IgG glycome composition was analysed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography. RESULTS: Blood lipids were positively correlated with glycan peak GP6, whereas they were negatively correlated with GP18 (P < 0.05/57). The canonical correlation analysis indicated that initial N-glycan structures, including GP4, GP6, GP9-12, GP14, GP17, GP18 and GP23, were significantly correlated with blood lipids, including total cholesterol, total triglycerides (TG) and low-density lipoprotein (r = 0.390, P < 0.001). IgG glycans patterns were able to distinguish patients with dyslipidaemia from the controls, with an area under the curve of 0.692 (95% confidence interval 0.644-0.740). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicated that a possible association between blood lipids and the observed loss of galactose and sialic acid, as well as the addition of bisecting GlcNAcs, which might be related to the chronic inflammation accompanying with the development and procession of dyslipidaemia.

Ischemic stroke is associated with the pro-inflammatory potential of N-glycosylated immunoglobulin G.

BACKGROUND: Glycosylation significantly affects protein structure and function and thus participates in multiple physiologic and pathologic processes. Studies demonstrated that immunoglobulin G (IgG) N-glycosylation associates with the risk factors of ischemic stroke (IS), such as aging, obesity, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension. METHODS: The study aimed to investigate the association between IgG N-glycosylation and IS in a Chinese population. IgG glycome composition in patients with IS (n = 78) and cerebral arterial stenosis (CAS) (n = 75) and controls (n = 77) were analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography. RESULTS: Eleven initial glycans and 10 derived glycans in IgG glycome representing galactosylation, sialylation, and bisecting GlcNAc significantly differed between IS patients and CAS and healthy controls after controlling for gender, age, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. Logistic regression models incorporating IgG glycan traits were able to distinguish IS from CAS (area under receiver-operator characteristic curves (AUC), 0.802; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.732-0.872) and controls (AUC, 0.740; 95% CI, 0.661-0.819). The canonical correlation analysis indicated that initial N-glycan structures are significantly correlated with inflammation markers (r = 0.566, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our findings indicated that loss of galactose and sialic acid, as well as addition of bisecting GlcNAc, might involve in pro- or anti-inflammatory IgG functionality and further contribute to the pathogenesis of IS. IgG glycan profiles may be developed as clinical useful biomarkers for chronic disease in the future.

Association between Ideal Cardiovascular Health Metrics and Suboptimal Health Status in Chinese Population.

Suboptimal health status (SHS) is a physical state between health and illness, and previous studies suggested that SHS is associated with majority components of cardiovascular health metrics defined by American Heart Association (AHA). We investigated the association between SHS and cardiovascular health metrics in a cross-sectional analysis of China suboptimal health cohort study (COACS) consisting of 4313 participants (60.30% women) aged from 18 to 65 years old. The respective prevalence of SHS is 7.10%, 9.18%, 10.04% and 10.62% in the first, second, third and fourth quartiles of ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) metrics (P for trend = 0.012). Participants in the largest quartile of ideal CVH metrics show a lower likelihood of having optimal SHS score compared to those in the smallest quartile (odds ratio (OR), 0.43; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.32-0.59), after adjusting for age, gender, marital status, alcohol consumption, income level and education. Four metrics (smoking, physical inactivity, poor dietary intake and ideal control of blood pressure are significantly correlated with the risk of SHS. The present study suggests that ideal CVH metrics are associated with a lower prevalence of SHS, and the combined evaluation of SHS and CVH metrics allows the risk classification of cardiovascular disease, and thus consequently contributes to the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

Immunoglobulin G N-Glycans as Potential Postgenomic Biomarkers for Hypertension in the Kazakh Population.

Next-generation (postgenomic) biomarkers from the nascent field of glycomics now offer fresh vistas for innovation in chronic disease biomarkers and system diagnostics in clinical medicine. Our previous work has shown an association between hypertension and immunoglobulin G (IgG) glycome composition, suggesting that individual variation in N-glycosylation of IgG might contribute to hypertension pathogenesis. The present study examined, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, the IgG N-glycans as potential biomarkers for hypertension in the Kazakh population. The profile of 60 N-glycopeptides of IgG subclass isolated from plasma samples of 150 Kazakh study participants was analyzed by nano ultra-performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry. Fourteen IgG subclass-specific Fc N-glycopeptide structures, along with one derived glycosylation trait in subclasses IgG2/3 and IgG4, were found to correlate with systolic blood pressure and/or diastolic blood pressure. For differentiation of hypertension and healthy status in the Kazakh population sample, the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the performance of the model, including nine IgG N-glycans, was greater than the traditional gender, age, and body mass index based model (p < 0.05). This study indicates that alteration in Fc N-glycopeptide profiles of plasma IgG subclasses is associated with blood pressure status in the Kazakh population. IgG N-glycosylation profiles may serve as potential biomarkers for hypertension in the Kazakhs, thus contributing to move toward personalized medicine. Further studies of postgenomic glycomic biomarkers in cardiovascular and chronic diseases are timely and called for.

Telomere Length and Accelerated Biological Aging in the China Suboptimal Health Cohort: A Case-Control Study.

Suboptimal health status (SHS) has been linked to cardiovascular risk factors, psychosocial stress, and unhealthy lifestyle. These factors also contribute to the shortening of telomere length (TL). A case-control study was conducted to examine the association between subjective health measures of SHS from the behavior perspective and also objective measures of TL at molecular level. SHS (cases = 294) was matched by age, sex, and body mass index with ideal health (controls = 294) using a propensity score matching method. Suboptimal health status questionnaire-25 (SHSQ-25) was used in the community-based health survey. A quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to measure relative telomere length (RTL). Shorter RTL was found among the SHS group compared to the ideal health group (p < 0.05). SHS was almost four times likely to be in the first quartile (odds ratio [OR] = 3.81; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.21-6.56), almost thrice in second quartile (OR = 2.84; 95% CI 1.65-4.90), and almost twice likely to be in the third quartile (OR = 1.71; 95% CI 1.00-2.94) compared to the fourth quartile (the longest) of RTL after adjusting for socioeconomic, dietary intake, anthropometric, blood pressure, and biochemistry variables (p < 0.05). Notably, SHS score was negatively correlated with RTL (r = -0.218, p < 0.05). Our study confirms an association between SHS and short RTL. Combination of subjective (SHS) and objective (RTL) measures is a novel tool for health aging investigation. Therefore, SHSQ-25 could be used as a screening tool for measuring biological aging in low-income countries at community level where the expensive technique for RTL measurement is not applicable.

The Indirect Efficacy Comparison of DNA Methylation in Sputum for Early Screening and Auxiliary Detection of Lung Cancer: A Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: DNA methylation in sputum has been an attractive candidate biomarker for the non-invasive screening and detection of lung cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Databases including PubMed, Ovid, Cochrane library, Web of Science databases, Chinese Biological Medicine (CBM), Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, Vip Databases and Google Scholar were searched to collect the diagnostic trials on aberrant DNA methylation in the screening and detection of lung cancer published until 1 December 2016. Indirect comparison meta-analysis was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of the included candidate genes. RESULTS: The systematic literature search yielded a total of 33 studies including a total of 4801 subjects (2238 patients with lung cancer and 2563 controls) and covering 32 genes. We identified that methylated genes in sputum samples for the early screening and auxiliary detection of lung cancer yielded an overall sensitivity of 0.46 (0.41-0.50) and specificity of 0.83 (0.80-0.86). Combined indirect comparisons identified the superior gene of SOX17 (sensitivity: 0.84, specificity: 0.88), CDO1 (sensitivity: 0.78, specificity: 0.67), ZFP42 (sensitivity: 0.87, specificity: 0.63) and TAC1 (sensitivity: 0.86, specificity: 0.75). CONCLUSIONS: The present meta-analysis demonstrates that methylated SOX17, CDO1, ZFP42, TAC1, FAM19A4, FHIT, MGMT, p16, and RASSF1A are potential superior biomarkers for the screening and auxiliary detection of lung cancer.

China suboptimal health cohort study: rationale, design and baseline characteristics.

BACKGROUND: Suboptimal health status (SHS) is a physical state between health and disease, characterized by the perception of health complaints, general weakness, chronic fatigue and low energy levels. SHS is proposed by the ancient concept of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) from the perspective of preservative, predictive and personalized (precision) medicine. We previously created the suboptimal health status questionnaire 25 (SHSQ-25), a novel instrument to measure SHS, validated in various populations. SHSQ-25 thus affords a window of opportunity for early detection and intervention, contributing to the reduction of chronic disease burdens. METHODS/DESIGN: To investigate the causative effect of SHS in non-communicable chronic diseases (NCD), we initiated the China suboptimal health cohort study (COACS), a longitudinal study starting from 2013. Phase I of the study involved a cross-sectional survey aimed at identifying the risk/protective factors associated with SHS; and Phase II: a longitudinal yearly follow-up study investigating how SHS contributes to the incidence and pattern of NCD. RESULTS: (1) Cross-sectional survey: in total, 4313 participants (53.8 % women) aged from 18 to 65 years were included in the cohort. The prevalence of SHS was 9.0 % using SHS score of 35 as threshold. Women showed a significantly higher prevalence of SHS (10.6 % in the female vs. 7.2 % in the male, P < 0.001). Risk factors for chronic diseases such as socioeconomic status, marital status, highest education completed, physical activity, salt intake, blood pressure and triglycerides differed significantly between subjects of SHS (SHS score ≥35) and those of ideal health (SHS score <35). (2) Follow up: the primary and secondary outcomes will be monitored from 2015 to 2024. CONCLUSIONS: The sex-specific difference in prevalence of SHS might partly explain the gender difference of incidence of certain chronic diseases. The COACS will enable a thorough characterization of SHS and establish a cohort that will be used for longitudinal analyses of the interaction between the genetic, lifestyle and environmental factors that contribute to the onset and etiology of targeted chronic diseases. The study together with the designed prospective cohort provides a chance to characterize and evaluate the effect of SHS systemically, and it thus generates an unprecedented opportunity for the early detection and prevention of chronic disease.

Profiling IgG N-glycans as potential biomarker of chronological and biological ages: A community-based study in a Han Chinese population.

As an important post-translation modifying process, glycosylation significantly affects the structure and function of immunoglobulin G (IgG) molecules and is essential in many steps of the inflammatory cascade. Studies have demonstrated the potential of using glycosylation features of IgG as a component of predictive biomarkers for chronological age in several European populations, whereas no study has been reported in Chinese. Herein, we report various patterns of changes in IgG glycosylation associated with age by analyzing IgG glycosylation in 701 community-based Han Chinese (244 males, 457 females; 23-68 years old). Eleven IgG glycans, including FA2B, A2G1, FA2[6]G1, FA2[3]G1, FA2[6]BG1, FA2[3]BG1, A2G2, A2BG2, FA2G2, FA2G2S1, and FA2G2S2, change considerably with age and specific combinations of these glycan features can explain 23.3% to 45.4% of the variance in chronological age in this population. This indicates that these combinations of glycan features provide more predictive information than other single markers of biological age such as telomere length. In addition, the clinical traits such as fasting plasma glucose and aspartate aminotransferase associated with biological age are strongly correlated with the combined glycan features. We conclude that IgG glycosylation appears to correlate with both chronological and biological ages, and thus its possible role in the aging process merits further study.

Simulation study of breast tissue hemodynamics during pressure perturbation.

We simulated the effects of compression of the breast on blood volume and tissue oxygenation. We sought to answer the question: how does the compression during breast examination impact on the circulatory systems of the breast tissue, namely blood flow, blood pooling, and oxygen concentration? We assumed that the blood was distributed in two compartments, arterial and venous. All the parameters were expressed with oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin quantities and were measured with a non-invasive method, Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS). The simulated data showed that the blood volume pool in the breast decreased due to lower arterial flow and higher venous outflow, as the breast was squeezed under 100 cm H2O with a 10 cm diameter probe (or 78 cm2). The blood volume was reversed when the pressure was released. The breast venous oxygen saturation dropped, but overall tissue saturation (presenting NIRS signal, volume weighted average saturation) was increased. The results showed that simulation can be used to obtain venous and average oxygen saturation as well as blood flow in compressed breast tissues.