Association between lack of care in childhood and cognitive impairment in middle-aged and elderly population / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective: To investigate the association between people who were under lack of care in childhood and the development of cognitive impairment in their middle-aged and elderly life spans. Methods: Based on the baseline survey data of the third phase of "Guangzhou Biobank Cohort study" conducted from January 2007 to January 2008, 9 223 residents aged ≥50 years with records on Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) were included in a retrospective survey on received childhood care of their early lives. Questions would include: feelings of care and support from their close relatives during childhood, the status of separation from their mothers for ≥1 year, and the current status of their parents. Linear regression, unconditional and multinomial logistic regression models were used to analyze the associations between the received childhood care and cognitive function (i.e., MMSE scores and cognitive impairment) in middle and old age, of this population under study. Results: After adjusting for age, gender, education, place of residence, marital status, physical activity, smoking, drinking, occupation, personal income, childhood socioeconomic position and depressive symptoms etc., factors as feeling lack of concern and support from close relatives (LC), status of separation from the mother for ≥1 year (SM), and the current status of their parents etc., were all negatively associated with the MMSE score when in middle and old age, with partial regression coefficient β (95%CI) as -0.44 (-0.65- -0.23), -0.26 (-0.38- -0.14) and -0.61 (-0.96- -0.27), respectively. The presence of LC, SM or PD were associated with the increased risks of cognitive impairment, and the adjusted odds ratio OR (95%CI) appeared as 1.43 (1.15-1.78), 1.26 (1.08-1.47) and 1.64 (1.16-2.31) respectively in all the participants, but 1.27 (1.01-1.62), 1.29 (1.09-1.55) and 1.75 (1.19-2.55) respectively, in those with education level of primary school or below. In those with secondary school education or above, only the presence of item A was associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment (OR=2.26, 95%CI: 1.41-3.50). Conclusion: We noticed that 'lack of care' in childhood was associated with cognitive impairment during middle and old age, mainly in those population with lower education.

Expression, purification and glycosylation analysis of chicken infectious bursal disease virus VP2 in yeast

Infectious bursal disease [IBD], a highly contagious and devastating disease in young chicken, is caused by infectious bursal disease virus [IBDV]. To improve the immunogenicity of recombinant IBDV subunit vaccine, an attempt was made to find a new way to prepare IBD vaccine containing glycosylated mVP[2] antigen. Firstly, IBDV mVP[2] gene [with a nucleic acid sequence encoding B cell epitope of IBDV [KFDQML] in the 5'-end of the VP[2], with a nucleic acid sequence encoding B cell epitope of IBDV [LASP] and [His] 6-tag in the 3'-end of the VP[2]] was cloned. Secondly, IBDV mVP[2] protein was expressed in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris which can secret glycosylated protein. The recombinant mVP[2] protein could be stained pink with periodic acid-schiff reagents [PAS], which showed that mVP[2] was glycosylated. Finally, IBDV mVP[2] protein was purified with His-Trap [1 mL] affinity chromatography. These results indicate that glycosylated IBDV VP[2] protein modified with epitope peptides can be expressed in Pichia pastoris, which lay the groundwork for the development of a recombinant infectious bursal disease vaccine with high immunogenicity