Heritability of tea drinking and its relationship with cigarette smoking in the Chinese male adult twins.

The aims of this study are to estimate the contributions of genetic factors to the variation of tea drinking and cigarette smoking, to examine the roles of genetic factors in their correlation and further to investigate underlying causation between them. We included 11 625 male twin pairs from the Chinese National Twin Registry (CNTR). Bivariate genetic modelling was fitted to explore the genetic influences on tea drinking, cigarette smoking and their correlation. Inference about Causation through Examination of FAmiliaL CONfounding (ICE FALCON) was further used to explore the causal relationship between them. We found that genetic factors explained 17% and 23% of the variation in tea drinking and cigarette smoking, respectively. A low phenotypic association between them was reported (rph = 0.21, 95% confidence interval [CI]: [0.19, 0.24]), which was partly attributed to common genetic factors (rA = 0.45, 95% CI [0.19, 1.00]). In the ICE FALCON analysis with current smoking as the exposure, tea drinking was associated with his own (ßself = 0.39, 95% CI [0.23, 0.55]) and his co-twin's smoking status (ßco-twin = 0.25, 95% CI [0.10, 0.41]). Their association attenuated with borderline significance conditioning on his own smoking status (p = 0.045), indicating a suggestive causal effect of smoking status on tea drinking. On the contrary, when we used tea drinking as the predictor, we found familial confounding between them only. In conclusion, both tea drinking and cigarette smoking were influenced by genetic factors, and their correlation was partly explained by common genetic factors. In addition, our finding suggests that familial confounders account for the relationship between tea drinking and cigarette smoking. And current smoking might have a causal effect on weekly tea drinking, but not vice versa.

Scarless wound healing: Current insights from the perspectives of TGF-ß, KGF-1, and KGF-2.

The process of wound healing involves a complex and vast interplay of growth factors and cytokines that coordinate the recruitment and interaction of various cell types. A series of events involving inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling eventually leads to the restoration of the damaged tissue. Abrogation in the regulation of these events has been shown to result in excessive scarring or non-healing wounds. While the process of wound healing is not fully elucidated, it has been documented that the early events of wound healing play a key role in the outcome of the wound. Furthermore, high levels of inflammation have been shown to lead to scarring. The regulation of these events may result in scarless wound healing, especially in adults. The inhibition of transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß) and the administration of keratinocyte growth factors (KGF), KGF-1 and KGF-2, has in recent years yielded positive results in the acceleration of wound closure and reduced scarring. Here, we encapsulate recent knowledge on the roles of TGF-ß, KGF1, and KGF2 in wound healing and scar formation and highlight the areas that need further investigation. We also discuss potential future directions for the use of growth factors in wound management.

Association between household overcrowding and depressive mood among Chinese residents.

BACKGROUND: Recent household overcrowding has strongly affected households' mental health in China. The possible association of household overcrowding and depressive mood is not fully demonstrated in unique Chinese economic context. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to examine the association of household overcrowding and depressive mood among Chinese adults and to evaluate whether the association varies across socio-demographic characteristics. METHODS: The relationship between household overcrowding and individual's depressive mood was examined using ordered logistic regression models. Stratified analysis was used to evaluate whether the association varies across socio-demographic characteristics. RESULTS: Ordered logistic regression models showed that the odds ratio for depressive mood among residents enduring housing overcrowding, as compared with residents without household overcrowding were 1.12 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02-1.22), after controlling for important confounders. We secondarily examined the association across subgroups. Stratified analysis revealed that household overcrowding significantly affected depressive mood for the low household income subgroups, whereas has no significant effect on depressive mood for the high household income. LIMITATIONS: CFPS does not investigate the depression of people under 16, making it impossible for us to study the impacts of housing crowding on Chinese children's depression. Secondly, we did not adjust for other potential confounders, such as lifetime history of depression or depressive mood, medication use and anxiety disorders/symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: This finding indicates that household overcrowding is harmful to residents' mental health, and appropriate protective measures should be taken to reduce the adverse effects of household overcrowding on residents' mental health.