J-shaped association between the visceral adiposity index and all-cause mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease.

OBJECTIVE: Visceral obesity, assessed using the visceral adiposity index (VAI), is related to mortality, but studies of populations with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between VAI and all-cause mortality among individuals with CKD. METHODS: We retrospectively explored the relationship between VAI and risk for all-cause death by analyzing the data of 4145 patients with CKD who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001-2006. Patients were followed until December 31, 2015. RESULTS: After an average follow-up of 134.14 mo, 1034 (24.95%) deaths were recorded. Comparison of VAI quartiles with the reference showed an unstable association of VAI with all-cause mortality after adjusting for a wide range of potential confounders in Cox regression analysis. The correlation between VAI and mortality was J-shaped after applying the penalized spline method. Before the inflection point (VAI = 68.23), higher VAI had a protective effect against mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 0.47; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.28-0.77). However, the risk for all-cause mortality gradually increased with the VAI (HR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.05-1.21). CONCLUSION: Visceral obesity may influence the rate of all-cause mortality in a nonlinear manner in populations with CKD. Risk for death was higher with visceral fat deficiency than with excessive visceral fat deposition.

The CSN1S1 N and F alleles identified by PCR-SSCP and their associations with milk yield and composition in Chinese dairy goats.

A method was depicted to identify null allele CSN1S1 N and low allele CSN1S1 F of the CSN1S1 gene of goat using PCR-SSCP (polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism). First, primer A was designed to amplify the exon 9 of CSN1S1 gene which produced three genotypes AA, AB, and BB. Among these three genotypes, only AA and AB individuals had a cytosine deletion at exon 9 after DNA sequencing, which cannot be used to identify the N and F alleles. Therefore, primer B was used to amplify intron 14 of CSN1S1 of described AA and AB individuals. Genotypes FF, FN and NN were detected within AA individuals and genotypes FO and NO were detected in the above AB individuals. The frequencies of F and N alleles in 708 samples from Xinong Saanen (XS) and Guanzhong (GZ) dairy goat breeds were 0.1139, 0.0927, and 0.2376, 0.1193, respectively. In 268 XS samples, the individuals with NN genotype contained a significant lower protein content than that of other genotypes (P<0.01). Individuals of FF genotype had significant higher milk yield than that of NO genotype in the first milk lactation of 202 XS individuals (P<0.05). Therefore, the variability at CSN1S1 locus contains enough genetic diversity to be potentially useful in improving the quality and production of milk in Chinese dairy goat breeds.

S-novel SNP of alpha-lactalbumin gene in chinese dairy goats.

The alpha-lactalbumin (alpha-LA) plays a key role in lactose synthesis in mammary glands of domestic animals. Mutations in the alpha-LA gene are associated with the milk traits in dairy cattle. In our study, a novel SNP: NO_X06366:g.875 C > T was detected in 708 dairy goat individuals--268 of the Xinong Saanen breed and 440 of Guanzhong breed, which revealed a synonymous mutation in the exon 1 of alpha-LA gene. The Polymerase Chain Reaction-Single Strand Conformation Polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) and sequencing techniques showed that there were three genotypes: CC, CT and TT. Moreover, the chi2-test showed that the genotype frequencies of the two breeds were in good agreement with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P > 0.05). The relationship of the polymorphism of dairy goat alpha-LA gene with the milk trait and the body size trait was revealed. Individuals with the CC genotype were significantly smaller at chest circumference than those with CT (P < 0.05) in both breeds. But the milk trait and other body size traits of the two dairy goat breeds had no significant association with genotypes studied.

[Management of subglottic stenosis in children with endoscopic balloon dilation].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of endoscopic balloon dilation for subglottic stenosis. METHODS: The clinical outcomes of 9 pediatric patients treated with balloon dilation were retrospectively analyzed. There were 8 male and 1 female. Their age ranged from 7 months to 7 years (mean 2.5 years). The degree of stenosis was classified according to Myer-Cotton classification as follows: grade Ⅱ (n=7) and grade Ⅲ (n=2). The causes of the stenosis were postintubation lesions (n=8) and laryngeal penetrating trauma (n=1). RESULTS: The patients had undergone 1 to 3 dilations with an average of 1.8 procedures per patient. Six (66.7%) patients were decannulated. Among them, 4(44.4%) were decannulated after one dilation procedure. Pneumothoraces occurred in 2 children postoperatively. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic balloon dilation is an effective, relatively safe and minimally invasive surgical method for patients with low-grade subglottic stenosis.

[Segmental tracheal resection and anastomosis for the treatment of cicatricial stenosis in cervical tracheal].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of segmental tracheal resection with end-to-end anastomosis for cicatricial cervical tracheal stenosis. METHODS: The clinical outcomes of 40 patients treated with tracheal resection were retrospectively reviewed. There were 28 male patients and 12 female patients with the age ranged from 6 to 64 years (mean 33.7 years). The degree of stenosis was classified according to Myer-Cotton classification as follows: grade Ⅱ (n=7), grade Ⅲ (n=22) and grade Ⅳ (n=11). The stenosis extension ranged from 1.0 to 4.3 cm (mean 2.5 cm). The causes of the stenosis were postintubation (n=33), cervical trauma (n=6) and resection of tracheal neoplasm (n=1). RESULTS: Thirty-four(85.0%) patients were decannulated and 6 failed. Of the 6 patients failed, 4 were decannulated after reoperation with the sternohyoid myocutaneous flap or thyroid alar cartilage graft. Complications occurred in 10 patients. In 8 patients granulation tissues formed at the site of the tracheal anastomosis, which needed endoscopic resction, and in 2 patients anastomosic dehiscence occurred. No injury to recurrent laryngeal nerve or trachoesophageal fistula occurred. CONCLUSION: Segmental tracheal resection with end-to-end anastomosis is an effective surgical method for tracheal stenosis, which has a higher successful rate for primary operation and shorter therapeutic period.