Disparities in Risks of Inadequate and Excessive Intake of Micronutrients during Pregnancy.

BACKGROUND: Inadequate or excessive intake of micronutrients in pregnancy has potential to negatively impact maternal/offspring health outcomes. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to compare risks of inadequate or excessive micronutrient intake in diverse females with singleton pregnancies by strata of maternal age, race/ethnicity, education, and prepregnancy BMI. METHODS: Fifteen observational cohorts in the US Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Consortium assessed participant dietary intake with 24-h dietary recalls (n = 1910) or food-frequency questionnaires (n = 7891) from 1999-2019. We compared the distributions of usual intake of 19 micronutrients from food alone (15 cohorts; n = 9801) and food plus dietary supplements (10 cohorts with supplement data; n = 7082) to estimate the proportion with usual daily intakes below their age-specific daily Estimated Average Requirement (EAR), above their Adequate Intake (AI), and above their Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL), overall and within sociodemographic and anthropometric subgroups. RESULTS: Risk of inadequate intake from food alone ranged from 0% to 87%, depending on the micronutrient and assessment methodology. When dietary supplements were included, some women were below the EAR for vitamin D (20-38%), vitamin E (17-22%), and magnesium (39-41%); some women were above the AI for vitamin K (63-75%), choline (7%), and potassium (37-53%); and some were above the UL for folic acid (32-51%), iron (39-40%), and zinc (19-20%). Highest risks for inadequate intakes were observed among participants with age 14-18 y (6 nutrients), non-White race or Hispanic ethnicity (10 nutrients), less than a high school education (9 nutrients), or obesity (9 nutrients). CONCLUSIONS: Improved diet quality is needed for most pregnant females. Even with dietary supplement use, >20% of participants were at risk of inadequate intake of ≥1 micronutrients, especially in some population subgroups. Pregnancy may be a window of opportunity to address disparities in micronutrient intake that could contribute to intergenerational health inequalities.

[Acupuncture at xing-spring point, shu-stream point and lower he-sea point for type-2 diabetic peripheral neuropathy].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of acupuncture at xing-spring point, shu-stream point and lower he-sea point on neurological function and clinical symptoms in patients with type-2 diabetic peripheral neuropathy. METHODS: Sixty patients with type-2 diabetic peripheral neuropathy were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 30 cases in each one. Both groups were treated with basic treatment, and the observation group was additionally treated with acupuncture at Neiting (ST 44), Xiangu (ST 43), Dadu (SP 2), Taibai (SP 3), Zusanli (ST 36), etc. once every other day, 3 times a week for 4 weeks. The changes of TCM symptom score, Toronto clinical assessment (TCSS) score, visual analogue scale (VAS) score of pain and serum tumor necrosis factor α(TNF-α) level were observed before and after treatment in the two groups, and the clinical effects of the two groups were evaluated. RESULTS: Compared before treatment, the TCM syndrome score and the TCSS score in the two groups were reduced after treatment (P<0.05), and the TCM syndrome score after treatment in the observation group was lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the VAS in the observation group was reduced (P<0.05), and the VAS score of pain in the observation group was lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the level of serum TNF-α within and between the two groups (P>0.05). The total effective rate was 76.7% (23/30) in the observation group, which was superior to 33.3% (10/30) in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture at xing-spring point, shu-stream point and lower he-sea point could effectively improve the neurological function and clinical symptoms in patients with type-2 diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

Simultaneous determination of 3 phenolic acids in Usnea by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS / 中国中药杂志

A quick HPLC-ESI-MS/MS method was established for simultaneous determination of three chemical compositions in Usnea, including usnic acid, diffractaic acid, and ramalic acid. The separation was performed on a chromatographic column of Agilent ZORBAX SB-C, (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 µm), and the mobile phase was methanol (0.05% formic acid)-0.05% formic acid solution (4 mmol ammonium acetate), with an isocratic elution at a flow rate of 0.8 ml · min⁻¹. Multiple reaction monitoring scanning mode (MRM) was performed combined with the ion switching technology in positive and negative ion switching mode to apply for the quantitative determination. The calibration curves for the above three compounds were linear in corresponding injection amount. Their average recoveries were 95.0%-105.1%, with RSDs of 1.1%-5.2%. The method was simple, rapid, accurate with high repeatability, which could provide a reference for overcalling evaluation the quality of Usnea.

Volatile Constituents of Folium Artemisiae Argyi of Different Sources / 针灸推拿医学（英文版）

Objective: To compare the volatile constituents of folium artemisiae argyi in order to provide chemical evidence for quality standardization. Methods: Volatile oil was extracted from folium artemisiae argyi from five sources by vapour distillation and then detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) to identify and semi-quantify its chemical constituents. Results: The folium artemisiae argyi in Qichun (Hubei Province) and Anguo (Hebei Province) contained many volatile constituents, with uniform and stable contents of these volatile constituents. Conclusion: The types and contents of volatile oil of folium artemisiae argyi are varied in different sources.

Investigation on the real herb of Mugwort leaf and the standard of its processing for moxibustion / 中国针灸

Mugwort leaf is the traditional herb being used for moxibustion. Although its place of production and the course of making Mugwort floss have been described in detail, there is no unified standard about the quality and processing of Mugwort floss until now, which seriously affect on the popularity and application of moxibustion. In accordance with the real herb of Mugwort leaf and floss as well as its processing and quality judgment, this paper thoroughly analyze the related data including ancient documents, modern research results and clinical applications. The authors consider that the Mugwort floss in the market is lack of regulations for its processing, and it needs to be discussed the way to judge the quality of Mugwort leaf by volatile oil, suggesting that the further study on the quality control of Mugwort leaf and floss has to be carried out from multiple aspects, such as physical attributes and chemical characteristics.

Analysis on chemical compositions of Artemisia Argyi from Qichun of different years and moxa wool refined in different proportions / 中国针灸

The article aims at providing theoretical foundation for security of moxibustion through analyzing chemical compositions of Artemisia Argyi of different years from Qichun County, Hubei Province, and moxa wool refined in different proportions. Artemisia Argyi from Qichun on 2007, 2008 and 2009 were taken as raw materials, and processed into moxa wool with the proportions of raw material and product as 3 : 1, 5 : 1, 8 : 1 and 15 : 1, respectively. Essential oils of Artemisia Argyi and the refined moxa wool were extracted by steam distillation. Their chemical compositions were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and calculated with semiquantitative method. The result showed that chemical compositions of Artemisia Argyi of different years and moxa wool refined in different proportions were almost the same, but their contents were with obvious difference. The relative content of volatile substances decreased with the age prolonged and a rise in the proportion of the refined moxa wool, while the involatile material increased. Therefore it can be concluded that the essential oil of Artemisia Argyi from Qichun and the refined moxa wool is basically safe. Involatile substances such as Juniper camphor, Caryophyllene oxide and Caryophyllene etc. are the main contents of high proportional moxa wool of old year. And these substances may be the effective components in moxibustion treatment.

Associations of Lifestyle Behaviors, Dietary Habits and Bone Mineral Density in Men Aged 50 Years and Older

Lifestyle behaviors including dietary habits are well known to play key roles in bone metabolism. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among the factors affecting bone mineral density (BMD) including age, anthropometric parameters, lifestyle behaviors, and dietary habits of men aged more than 50 years. Ninety-one men, who visited health promotion center at one of the university medical centers, were divided into two groups according to the BMD: normal and osteopenia. The BMD of femoral neck in the osteopenia group was significantly lower than that of the normal group (0.77 +/- 0.28 vs. 0.98 +/- 0.08 g/cm2). The proportion of the regular exercisers was significantly lower in the osteopenia group than in the normal group (p = 0.027). In the osteopenia group, the femoral neck BMD was significantly decreased in smokers and coffee drinkers compared to no-smokers and no-coffee drinkers. The femoral neck BMD was increased among those who consume breakfast and beans and bean products more frequently and those with a greater meal regularity. In the normal group, the lumbar spine BMD was significantly increased among those with frequent consumption of beans and bean products. The lumbar spine BMD was significantly correlated with exercise (r = 0.263), and the femoral neck BMD with weight (r = 0.284), BMI (r = 0.324), relative body weight (r= 0.294), exercise (r = 0.269) and frequency of beans and bean products consumption (r = 0.216). These results indicate that lifestyle behaviors and dietary habits play important roles in maintaining optimum bone health in the middle-aged men.

Effect of entrainer on supercritical CO2 for extraction of tradition and herbal drugs / 中国中药杂志

Type, mode of affiliating, mechanism of action of entrainer in Supercritical CO2 on extraction of Chinese traditional and herbal drugs were briefly reviewed. Application of entrainer in Supercritical CO2 on extraction of flavones, terpenes, sterols, and saponins in Chinese traditional and herbal drugs were recommended in particular. Some problems and directions in research of entrainer in Supercritical CO2 on extraction of Chinese traditional and herbal drugs were shown in this paper.

Studies on protective effects of Niuhuang Shangqing pills on cerebral ischemia / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To discuss the protective effect of Niuhuang Shangqing pills (NSP) on the experimental cerebral ischemia and the influence of blood rheology in animals.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Using the middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), bilateral common carotid artery ligation and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in combination with carrogeenin (Ca)-induced stagnation of blood model rats, we investigated the influence of NSP on the physical sign indexes, brain infarct size and the water content, the content of lactate(LD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT), malondialdehyde (MDA) and the blood rheology.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The 3.00, 1.50 g x kg(-1) dosage groups of NSP decreased the neurosigns indexes, significantly reduced the brain infarct areas in MCAO rats, decreased the brain water content, increased the activities of GPx and CAT, decreased the content of LD and MDA in bilateral common carotid artery ligation rats. They improved the blood rheology in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in combination with carrogeenin (Ca)-induced stagnation of blood model rats.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>NSP has the function of protective effect on experimental experimental cerebral ischemia.</p>