Association of maternal weight gain in early pregnancy with congenital heart disease in offspring: a China birth cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: Little study has reported the association of maternal weight gain in early pregnancy with fetal congenital heart disease (CHD). We aimed to explore the potential relationship based on a China birth cohort while adjusting by multiple factors. DESIGN: Cohort study. SETTING: China birth cohort study conducted from 2017 to 2021. PARTICIPANTS: The study finally included 114 672 singleton pregnancies in the 6-14 weeks of gestation, without missing data or outliers, loss to follow-up or abnormal conditions other than CHD. The proportion of CHD was 0.65% (749 cases). PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Association between maternal pre-pregnancy weight gain and CHD in the offspring were analysed by multivariate logistic regression, with the unadjusted, minimally adjusted and maximally adjusted methods, respectively. RESULTS: The first-trimester weight gain showed similar discrimination of fetal CHD to that period of maternal body mass index (BMI) change (DeLong tests: p=0.091). Compared with weight gain in the lowest quartile (the weight gain less than 0.0 kg), the highest quartile (over 2.0 kg) was associated with a higher risk of fetal CHD in unadjusted (OR 1.36, 95% CI: 1.08 to 1.72), minimally adjusted (adjusted OR (aOR) 1.29, 95% CI: 1.02 to 1.62) and maximally adjusted (aOR 1.29, 95% CI: 1.02 to 1.63) models. The association remains robust in pregnant women with morning sickness, normal pre-pregnancy BMI, moderate physical activity, college/university level, natural conception or with folic acid (FA) and/or multivitamin supplementation. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Although the association of maternal pre-pregnancy weight gain on fetal CHD is weak, the excessive weight gain may be a potential predictor of CHD in the offspring, especially in those with morning sickness and other conditions that are routine in the cohort, such as normal pre-pregnancy BMI, moderate physical activity, college/university level, natural conception or with FA and/or multivitamin supplementation.

A supramolecular complex based on a Gd-containing polyoxometalate and food-borne peptide for MRI/CT imaging and NIR-triggered photothermal therapy.

A multifunctional supramolecular complex is reported for the integrated multiple magnetic resonance imaging/computed X-ray tomography (MRI/CT) imaging and photothermal therapy, wherein a gadolinium-substituted paramagnetic polyoxometalate cluster and food-borne antioxidant peptides identified from the trepang protein hydrolysates are introduced. The as-prepared complex maintained an uniform particle size and much better biocompatibility, and is an ideal candidate for the in vivo applications. The complex allows for T1-weighted MR imaging and a high Hounsfield unit value for enhanced CT imaging. Interestingly, we demonstrate that the complex possesses outstanding photothermal cancer-killing effects due to its high photothermal conversion efficiency under the exposure of an NIR laser and enhanced antibacterial activity to avoid bacterial infection from the thermal therapeutic process. These results indicate that the supramolecular complex platform exhibit potential for accurate medical diagnosis at an early stage and effective eradication of the tumor cells.

Polyoxometalate-antioxidant peptide assembly materials with NIR-triggered photothermal behaviour and enhanced antibacterial activity.

Herein, a novel photothermal agent based on polyoxometalate clusters and food-borne antioxidant peptides was exploited to overcome the inherent problems of poor photothermal stability of polyoxometalate photothermal materials, which commonly appear in the current stage of development, and the inevitable simultaneous inflammatory responses during the therapeutic process.

Development of functional black phosphorus nanosheets with remarkable catalytic and antibacterial performance.

Highly dispersed 2D-nanostructured ultrathin black phosphorus nanosheets (BPNs)-integrated Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) hybrids were constructed in situ through a facile and environmentally friendly strategy. No additional reductants, surfactants, or polymer templates were introduced during this green and convenient synthesis process. The resulting AuNPs/BPNs nanohybrids were characterized by UV-vis, Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). The content of BPNs plays an essential role in modulating the morphologies and chemical states of AuNPs/BPNs hybrids, which have been investigated systematically and are discussed in detail. As high-density ultrasmall AuNPs are properly stabilized and accommodated without passivation by the surrounding ultrathin BPNs, the resulting AuNPs/BPNs hybrids exhibit excellent catalytic/antibacterial properties and long-term stabilities, benefiting from a possible synergistic enhancement effect between AuNPs and BPNs constructs. This simple, mild and environmentally benign strategy could be generalized to the preparation of other metal- or metal oxide-doped complexes and holds great promise for potential catalytic, bioanalytical and biomedical applications.

Turf soil enhances treatment efficiency and performance of phenolic wastewater in an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor.

Phenols are industrially generated intermediate chemicals found in wastewaters that are considered a class of environmental priority pollutants. Up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors are used for phenolic wastewater treatment and exhibit high volume loading capability, favorable granule settling, and tolerance to impact loads. Use of support materials can promote biological productivity and accelerate start-up period of UASB. In the present study, turf soil was used as a support material in a mesophilic UASB reactor for the removal of phenols in wastewater. During sludge acclimatization (45-96 days), COD and phenols in the treatments were both reduced by 97%, whereas these contents in the controls were decreased by 81% and 75%, respectively. The phenol load threshold for the turf soil UASB reactor was greater (1200 mg/L, the equivalent of COD 3000 mg/L) in comparison with the control UASB reactor (900 mg/L, the equivalent of COD 2250 mg/L) and the turf soil UASB reactor was also more resistant to shock loading. Improved sludge settling, shear resistance, and higher biological activity occurred with the turf soil UASB reactor due to the formation of large granular sludge (0.6 mm or larger) in higher relative percentages. Granular sludge size was further enhanced by the colonization of filamentous bacteria on the irregular surface of the turf soil.

Preventive use of a hepatoprotectant against anti-tuberculosis drug-induced liver injury: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Hepatoprotectants are routinely prescribed in China to prevent anti-tuberculosis drug-induced liver injury (ATLI). However, their biological mechanisms have not yet been clearly demonstrated. This study aims to evaluate the preventive effects of Silybum marianum against drug-induced liver injury among tuberculosis patients and to provide clinical guidelines for tuberculosis management in China. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial was performed in Jiangsu, China. Tuberculosis patients were randomly allocated to the experimental group (anti-tuberculosis therapy plus S. marianum capsule) or the control group (anti-tuberculosis therapy plus vitamin C tablet). The primary outcomes were the occurrence of probable and possible ATLI, the peak aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase ratio and the maximum altered alkaline phosphatase or gamma-glutamyl transferase. RESULTS: The final analysis comprised 183 cases in the experiment group and 187 cases in the control group. The risk of developing probable ATLI was not significantly different between the two groups. During the follow-up period, 43.72% of cases in the experiment group and 35.83% of cases in the control group were determined to have possible ATLI (relative risk = 1.23, 95% confidence interval: 0.94-1.54). When using a more strict definition of possible ATLI, the adjusted relative risk (95% confidence interval) was 1.76 (1.14-2.56). The risks of adverse drug reactions, prolonged treatment length, taking second-line tuberculosis drugs, and the clearance of tuberculosis bacteria were similar between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: No significant preventive effect of silymarin was found for either lowering the risk of liver injury or boosting the positive outcomes. Worse, we even found a potential risk of liver damage caused by the hepatoprotectant.