Relationship between circulating irisin levels and overweight/obesity: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Currently, the findings about irisin as a novel myokine related to obesity are inconsistent in overweight/obese people. To our knowledge, no systematic analysis has been conducted to evaluate the relationship between irisin levels and overweight/obesity. AIM: To evaluate the association between circulating irisin levels and overweight/obesity. METHODS: The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, SCOPUS, and the ISI Web of Science were searched to retrieve all of the studies associated with circulating irisin levels and overweight/obesity. Standard mean difference values and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated and pooled using meta-analysis methodology. RESULTS: A total of 18 studies were included in our meta-analysis containing 1005 cases and 1242 controls. Our analysis showed that the circulating irisin level in overweight/obese people was higher than that in overall healthy controls (random effects MD = 0.63; 95%CI: 0.22-1.05; P = 0.003). In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, the irisin level was higher in overweight/obesity people than that in controls in Africa (random effects MD = 3.41; 95%CI: 1.23-5.59; P < 0.05) but not in European, Asian, or American populations. In addition, in a subgroup analysis by age, the results showed that obese children exhibited a higher irisin level than controls (random effects MD = 0.86; 95%CI: 0.28-1.43; P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis provides evidence that circulating irisin is higher in obese individuals compared to healthy controls and it is important to identify the relationship between circulating irisin levels and overweight/obesity in predicting overweight/obesity.

[Cellular memory of high glucose exposure in normoglycemia is probably mediated by reactive oxygen species in INS-1 cells].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the cellular memory of previous high glucose exposure in rat islet cell line (INS-1) and explore the possible mechanism. METHODS: INS-1 cells were exposed to a high glucose (33.3 mmol/L) culture for 48 h followed by further culture in the presence of 11.1 mmol/L glucose in the culture medium for 3 or 5 days. The levels of bax and caspase-3 mRNA were measured by real-time PCR, the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was assayed using the dihydroethidium probe, and the cell viability was detected by MTT assay. RESULTS: High glucose exposure of the cells for 48 h resulted in significantly increased ROS production and bax and caspase-3 mRNA expressions and lowered cell viability (P<0.001). In cells cultured in 11.1 mmol/L glucose following previous high glucose exposure, the ROS production and bax and caspase-3 mRNA expressions still maintained the high levels (P<0.05) while the cell viability remained significantly lower than the control cells (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: High glucose causes persistent changes in cell viability and apoptosis-related gene expressions even after recovery of normoglycemia, the mechanism of which is probably related to increased ROS production.

[A case report of Wautersia sepsis infection].

Genus Wautersia is a Gram-negative bacterium that has rarely been associated with human infections abroad, and is firstly reported in home. We report a case of sepsis caused by Wautersia species, which was separated from blood and bone marrows.

A research on the public health index related to the comprehensive assessment on floods / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To develop a public health index related to the comprehensive assessment on the impact caused by floods.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) theory was used to establish the initial evaluation system on the impact of floods. Modified-Delphi process was used to screen and determine the indicators and their weights while synthetical scored method was used to establish the comprehensive assessment model. Percentile was used to differentiate the degree of floods. Finally, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and correlation analysis were used to test the differentiability of the model for different degree of floods and the independence of these indicators.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The model of comprehensive assessment on the impact of floods was set up, including six first-ranking indicators and twenty-four sub-indicators. The values of comprehensive assessment were divided into five grades by the percentiles. Verified results indicated that there were significant difference among the five grades (F = 76.11, P < 0.01) and all indicators were independent.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>An index of comprehensive assessment on the impact of floods was established, which could be used to evaluate the impact of floods and to differentiate the degree of flood, which seemed to have the characteristic of reliability, comprehensiveness and practicability.</p>