Serum creatinine levels and risk of nonalcohol fatty liver disease in a middle-aged and older Chinese population: A cross-sectional analysis.

BACKGROUND: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is now regarded as the hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Recent research has suggested that serum creatinine (SCr) may be an indicator of MetS and its related diseases. We aimed to investigate the association between SCr and NAFLD in Chinese adults. METHODS: A cross-sectional sample of 8862 subjects aged 40 years or older (40-73 years) from China were analysed in this study. The anthropometric measurements, laboratory tests, and hepatic ultrasonography were conducted. NAFLD presence was defined by hepatic ultrasound in the absence of other liver diseases. RESULTS: NAFLD subjects had higher SCr than those without NAFLD (66.8 µmol/L vs. 65.6 µmol/L, p < 0.001). Moreover, SCr levels were correlated with alanine aminotransferase (ß = 0.099, p < 0.001), aspartate aminotransferase (ß = 0.135, p < 0.001), γ-glutamyltransferase (ß = 0.039, p < 0.001), and insulin resistance (ß = 0.027, p = 0.014) after adjusted for potential covariates. In the multivariable-adjusted logistic regression analyses, compared to the first SCr quintile, the odds ratio for NAFLD was 1.35 (95% confidence interval 1.14-1.60, p < 0.001) for the fifth quintile after adjusting multiple measured confounders. CONCLUSION: SCr concentration is independently associated with NAFLD in a middle aged and older Chinese population. Elevated SCr levels, even within normal ranges, were associated with higher risk of NAFLD.

Two phenanthroimidazole turn-on probes for the rapid detection of selenocysteine and its application in living cells imaging.

Detection of selenocysteine (Sec) content in cells by fluorescence probe is of great significance for the identification of human related diseases. To achieve fast and sensitive detection of Sec, two isomers A4 and B4 as turn-on fluorescent probes to detect Sec were designed and synthesized. Both A4 and B4 display fast turn-on response, high selectivity and sensitivity toward Sec, which can be applied for fluorescence imaging of Sec in living cells. Compared with B4, A4 has a larger Stokes shift (125 nm), wider pH range (5-10) and lower detection limit (65.4 nM) due to its ESIPT (excited state intramolecular proton transfer) effect. In view of the detection performance of these two probes, they can be used as effective tools for detecting Sec in biological systems.