Unsupervised clustering analysis of comprehensive health status and its influencing factors on women of childbearing age: a cross-sectional study from a province in central China.

BACKGROUND: Most previous studies on women of childbearing age have focused on reproductive health and fertility intentions, and evidence regarding the comprehensive health status of women of childbearing age is limited. This study aimed to comprehensively examine the health status of women of childbearing age through a multi-method and multi-indicator evaluation, analyze the factors that influence their overall health, and provide sound recommendations for the improvement and promotion of healthy behaviors. METHODS: Data on women of childbearing age living in Shanxi Province were collected between September 2021 and January 2022 through online and offline surveys. The k-means algorithm was used to assess health-related patterns in women, and multivariate nonconditional logistic regression was used to assess the influencing factors of women's overall health. RESULTS: In total, 1,258 of 2,925 (43%) participants were classified as having a good health status in all five domains of the three health dimensions: quality of life, mental health, and illness. Multivariate logistic regression showed that education level, gynecological examination status, health status of family members, access to medical treatment, age, cooking preferences, diet, social support, hand washing habits, attitude toward breast cancer prevention, and awareness of reproductive health were significantly associated with different health patterns. CONCLUSIONS: The comprehensive health status of women of childbearing age in Shanxi Province is generally good; however, a large proportion of women with deficiencies in some dimensions remains. Since lifestyle greatly impacts women's health, health education on lifestyle and health-related issues should be strengthened.

Regulation of wakefulness by GABAergic dorsal raphe nucleus-ventral tegmental area pathway.

The dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) has previously been proved to be involved in the regulation of the sleep-wake behavior. DRN contains several neuron types, such as 5-HTergic and GABAergic neurons. GABAergic neurons, which are the second largest cell subtype in the DRN, participate in a variety of neurophysiological functions. However, their role in sleep-wake regulation and the underlying neural circuitry remains unclear. Herein, we used fiber photometry and synchronous electroencephalogram (EEG)/electromyography (EMG) recording to demonstrate that DRN GABAergic neurons exhibit high activities during wakefulness and low activities during NREM sleep. Short-term optogenetic activation of DRN GABAergic neurons reduced the latency of NREM-to-wake transition and increased the probability of wakefulness, while long-term optogenetic activation of these neurons significantly increased the amount of wakefulness. Chemogenetic activation of DRN GABAergic neurons increased wakefulness for almost 2 h and maintained long-lasting arousal. In addition, inhibition of DRN GABAergic neurons with chemogenetics caused a reduction in the amount of wakefulness. Finally, similar to the effects of activating the soma of DRN GABAergic neurons, optogenetic stimulation of their terminals in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) induced instant arousal and promoted wakefulness. Taken together, our results illustrated that DRN GABAergic neurons are vital to the induction and maintenance of wakefulness, which promote wakefulness through the GABAergic DRN-VTA pathway.

Anti-diabetic and gut microbiota modulation effects of sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis L.) leaf extract in streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetic mice.

BACKGROUND: Sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis L.) tea has been used as an adjuvant treatment for diabetes in Pu'er, in the Yunnan province of China. The effects of sacha inchi tea on diabetes and the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. This study was conducted to investigate the influence of a water extract of sacha inchi (P. volubilis L.) leaves (PWE) on hypoglycemic activity and gut microbiota composition in mice with streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). During the 6 weeks of the study, T1DM mice were administered PWE intragastrically at 400 mg kg-1 body weight (BW) per day. RESULTS: Treatment with PWE reduced excessive loss of BW and excessive intake of food. It significantly decreased blood glucose levels and improved oral glucose tolerance. The treatment caused protective histopathological transformations in sections of the pancreas, leading to decreased insulin resistance and improved insulin sensitivity. Treatment with PWE also significantly ameliorated disorders of the gut microbiota structure and increased the richness and diversity of intestinal microbial species in T1DM mice. At the genus level, the populations of several crucial bacteria, such as Akkermansia, Parabacteroides, and Muribaculum increased in the PWE treatment group but the abundance of Ruminiclostridium and Oscillibacter decreased. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with PWE can ameliorate hyperglycemic symptoms in STZ-induced T1DM mice, and the anti-diabetic effect of PWE was related to the amelioration of gut microbial structural disorder and the enrichment of functional bacteria. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.