Association of Maternal Erythrocyte PUFA during Pregnancy with Offspring Allergy in the Chinese Population.

Findings on prenatal polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and offspring allergies have been inconsistent, and the majority of studies have focused on Western populations. This study aimed to investigate the associations between maternal erythrocyte PUFA and offspring allergies in the first 2 years in the Chinese population. We included 573 mother-infant pairs from a birth cohort. Based on the outpatient medical records, we identified the diagnosis and time of offspring allergic disease onset. We measured erythrocyte fatty acids by gas chromatography. Associations were examined using Cox regression. We found that higher maternal total PUFA levels (HR = 0.80; 95% CI: 0.68, 0.94), especially of arachidonic acid (AA) (HR = 0.79; 95% CI: 0.65, 0.97) and n-3 PUFA (HR = 0.77; 95% CI: 0.62, 0.97), were associated with reduced risk of offspring allergies. Similar results were found for eczema. Compared with children without a maternal allergy history, the associations of total PUFA (p = 0.028) and n-6 PUFA (p = 0.013) with offspring allergies were stronger in those with a maternal allergy history. Maternal erythrocyte total PUFA, especially AA, and n-3 PUFA were inversely associated with offspring allergies within 2 years of age. There was a significant interaction between maternal allergy history and maternal PUFA in offspring allergies.

Weather effects on hand, foot, and mouth disease at individual level: a case-crossover study.

BACKGROUND: Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) raises an urgent public health issue in the Asia-Pacific region, especially in China. The associations between weather factors and HFMD have been widely studied but with inconsistent results. Moreover, previous studies utilizing ecological design could not rule out the bias of exposure misclassification and unobserved confounders. METHODS: We used case-crossover analysis to assess the associations of weather factors on HFMD. Individual HFMD cases from 2009 to 2012 in Guangdong were collected and cases located within 10 km of the meteorological monitoring sites were included. Lag effects were examined through the previous 7 days. In addition, we explored the variability by changing the distance within 20 km and 30 km. RESULTS: We observed associations between HFMD and weather factors, including temperature and relative humidity. An approximately U-shaped relationship was observed for the associations of temperature on HFMD across the same day and the previous 7 days, while an approximately exponential-shaped was seen for relative humidity. Statistically significant increases in rates of HFMD were associated with each 10-unit increases in temperature [Excess rate (ER): 7.7%; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 3.9, 11.7%] and relative humidity (ER: 1.9%; 95% CI: 0.7, 3.0%) on lag days 0-6, when assessing within 10 km of the monitoring sites. Potential thresholds for temperature (30.0 °C) and relative humidity (70.3%) detected showed associations with HFMD. The associations remained robust for 20 km and 30 km. CONCLUSIONS: Our study found that temperature and relative humidity are significantly associated with the increased rates of HFMD. Thresholds and lag effects were observed between weather factors and HFMD. Our findings are useful for planning on targeted prevention and control of HFMD.

Utilization of healthcare services among Chinese migrants in Kenya: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: The number of Chinese migrants in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is increasing, which is part of the south-south migration. The healthcare seeking challenges for Chinese migrants in Africa are different from local people and other global migrants. The aim of this study is to explore utilization of local health services and barriers to health services access among Chinese migrants in Kenya. METHODS: Thirteen in-depth interviews (IDIs) and six focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted among Chinese migrants (n = 32) and healthcare-related stakeholders (n = 3) in Nairobi and Kisumu, Kenya. Data was collected, transcribed, translated, and analyzed for themes. RESULTS: Chinese migrants in Kenya preferred self-treatment by taking medicines from China. When ailments did not improve, they then sought care at clinics providing Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) or received treatment at Kenyan private healthcare facilities. Returning to China for care was also an option depending on the perceived severity of disease. The main supply-side barriers to local healthcare utilization by Chinese migrants were language and lack of health insurance. The main demand-side barriers included ignorance of available healthcare services and distrust of local medical care. CONCLUSIONS: Providing information on quality healthcare services in Kenya, which includes Chinese language translation assistance, may improve utilization of local healthcare facilities by Chinese migrants in the country.

Job satisfaction and associated factors among healthcare staff: a cross-sectional study in Guangdong Province, China.

OBJECTIVES: This cross-sectional study aimed to explore job satisfaction among healthcare staff in Guangdong following the health system reforms in 2009, and to investigate the association between job satisfaction and work stress, work-family conflict and doctor-patient relationship. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: The Fifth National Health Service Survey was carried out in Guangdong, China. PARTICIPANTS: All participants in this study were healthcare staff including physicians, nurses and public health staff from hospitals, health service centres and health clinics. A total of 6583 questionnaires were distributed and collected. After excluding the incomplete questionnaires, 5845 questionnaires were included for the analysis. OUTCOME MEASURES: Sociodemographic information and scores for evaluating job satisfaction, work stress, work-family conflict and doctor-patient relationship were obtained using the questionnaire developed by the National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People's Republic of China. To assess the significantly associated factors on job satisfaction of the healthcare staff in Guangdong, a binary logistic regression model was used. RESULTS: Based on the 5845 valid responses of the healthcare staff who worked in Guangdong, the mean score of overall perception of job satisfaction was 3.99 on a scale of 1-6. Among the sociodemographic variables, occupation, educational background, professional status, years of service, annual income and night shift frequency significantly influenced the level of job satisfaction. Work stress, work-family conflict and doctor-patient relationship also had significant effect on job satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: The overall job satisfaction exceeded slightly dissatisfied (score 3) and approached slightly satisfied (score 4). Measures to enhance job satisfaction include the reduction of workload, increase of welfare, maintaining moderate stress and balancing work-family conflict. Moreover, relevant laws should be issued to protect the healthcare staff from violent acts.

Situation-specific factors predicting nonadherence to methadone maintenance treatment: a cross-sectional study using the case-crossover design in Guangzhou, China.

Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) is a key risk reduction measure for controlling HIV transmission among drug users. Studies using traditional methods exist to distinguish between drop outs and nondrop outs. However, many nondrop outs use MMT discontinuously and no study has identified situation-specific factors predicting their showing or not showing up. This study used a case-crossover design comparing situation-specific factors appearing on the last episode of attendance versus those of the last episode of nonattendance. A total of 133 participants were recruited from two MMT clinics in Guangzhou, China. Participants were asked separately whether various situation-specific factors existed in the last episodes of nonattendance and attendance of MMT. Matched odds ratios (ORs) based on conditional logistic regression analysis were presented. The results showed that the participants attended the MMT clinics on average for 25 days in the last month. Situation-specific factors significantly predicting nonattendance included: (1) physical and mental health status: in illness (OR = 33.0, P < 0.001), in a bad mood (OR = 7.5, P < 0.001), and occurrence of an unhappy event (OR = 18.0, P < 0.001); (2) other engagement: work engagement (OR = 40.0, P < 0.001), trip to other places (OR = 83.0, P < 0.001), and social activities (OR = 10.0, P = 0.012); (3) interpersonal relationship: conflicts with family (OR = 19.0, P = 0.004); and (4) structural situational factors: financial difficulty (OR = 19.0, P = 0.004) and worrying about police arrest (OR = 12.0, P = 0.003). Other factors such as interaction with drug users and heroin use were marginally significant, while reduced methadone dosage was nonsignificant. Interventions to improve MMT adherence need to consider situation-specific factors. Ancillary psychosocial services should be integrated with current MMT; MMT should also provide more flexible services to the clients. Furthermore, efforts should be taken to build up interdisciplinary teams and to connect with MMT in order to provide holistic harm reduction, rehabilitation, and health care.

Purified anthocyanin supplementation improves endothelial function via NO-cGMP activation in hypercholesterolemic individuals.

BACKGROUND: Anthocyanins have been shown to improve endothelial function in animal models. However, whether these compounds have similar beneficial effects in humans is largely unknown. METHODS: In a short-term crossover study, 12 hypercholesterolemic individuals were given oral anthocyanins (320 mg) isolated from berries or placebo. Brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) was assessed before and after the intervention. In a long-term intervention trial (12 weeks), 150 hypercholesterolemic individuals were given anthocyanins (320 mg/day, n = 75) or placebo (n = 75), after which we measured FMD, plasma cGMP, and other serum biomarkers. Another short-term intervention was conducted in the presence of NO-cGMP inhibitors in 6 people and in a rat aortic ring model (n = 8). RESULTS: Significant increases of FMD from 8.3% (0.6%) at baseline to 11.0% (0.8%) at 1 h and 10.1% (0.9%) at 2 h were observed after short-term anthocyanin consumption, concomitantly with increases of plasma anthocyanin concentrations (P < 0.05). In the study participants who received long-term anthocyanin intervention, compared with the control group, we observed significant increases in the FMD (28.4% vs 2.2%), cGMP (12.6% vs -1.2%), and HDL-cholesterol concentrations, but decreases in the serum soluble vascular adhesion molecule-1 and LDL cholesterol concentrations (P < 0.05). The changes in the cGMP and HDL cholesterol concentrations positively correlated with FMD in the anthocyanin group (P < 0.05). In the presence of NO-cGMP inhibitors, the effects of anthocyanin on endothelial function were abolished in human participants and in a rat aortic ring model. CONCLUSIONS: Anthocyanin supplementation improves endothelium-dependent vasodilation in hypercholesterolemic individuals. This effect involves activation of the NO-cGMP signaling pathway, improvements in the serum lipid profile, and decreased inflammation.

Anthocyanin supplementation improves serum LDL- and HDL-cholesterol concentrations associated with the inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein in dyslipidemic subjects.

BACKGROUND: Anthocyanins have been shown to exert benefits on the lipid profile in many animal models. Whether these molecules have similar beneficial effects in humans is currently unknown. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to investigate the effects of berry-derived anthocyanin supplements on the serum lipid profile in dyslipidemic patients. DESIGN: A total of 120 dyslipidemic subjects (age 40-65 y) were given 160 mg anthocyanins twice daily or placebo for 12 wk in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. RESULTS: Anthocyanin consumption increased HDL-cholesterol concentrations (13.7% and 2.8% in the anthocyanin and placebo groups, respectively; P < 0.001) and decreased LDL-cholesterol concentrations (13.6% and -0.6% in the anthocyanin and placebo groups, respectively; P < 0.001). Cellular cholesterol efflux to serum increased more in the anthocyanin group than in the placebo group (20.0% and 0.2%, respectively; P < 0.001). Anthocyanin supplementation decreased the mass and activity of plasma cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) (10.4% and 6.3%, respectively, in the anthocyanin group and -3.5% and 1.1%, respectively, in the placebo group; P < 0.001). In the anthocyanin group, the change in HDL cholesterol was negatively correlated with the change in CETP activity (r(s) = -0.330). The change in LDL cholesterol was positively correlated with the change in CETP mass (r(s) = 0.354). The change in cellular cholesterol efflux to serum was positively correlated with the change in HDL cholesterol (r(s) = 0.485). In vitro, cyanidin 3-O-beta-glucosides dose-dependently lowered CETP activity in human HepG2 cells. CONCLUSIONS: Anthocyanin supplementation in humans improves LDL- and HDL-cholesterol concentrations and enhances cellular cholesterol efflux to serum. These benefits may be due to the inhibition of CETP.